dwelling
- a building or place of shelter to live in; place of residence; abode; home.
Origin of dwelling
Synonyms
See more synonyms for dwelling on Thesaurus.comdwell
- to live or stay as a permanent resident; reside.
- to live or continue in a given condition or state: to dwell in happiness.
- to linger over, emphasize, or ponder in thought, speech, or writing (often followed by on or upon): to dwell on a particular point in an argument.
- (of a moving tool or machine part) to be motionless for a certain interval during operation.
- Machinery.
- a flat or cylindrical area on a cam for maintaining a follower in a certain position during part of a cycle.
- a period in a cycle in the operation of a machine or engine during which a given part remains motionless.
Origin of dwell
Examples from the Web for dwelling
Contemporary Examples
We tend to daydream all the time, speculating about the future and dwelling on the past.
If God exists, then God has (or had) a body and a dwelling place.
You have to haul the water into your dwelling and carry out the waste.
Weiss misses them, I think, for the same reason he cannot bear Boianjiu dwelling in the head of an Israeli soldier.
After two weeks of dwelling on religious and social issues, Santorum delivered a concession speech heavy on economic talk.
Historical Examples
Were not her poor friends the more sorely tried that she was dwelling at ease?
Weighed and WantingGeorge MacDonald
Your dwelling is in those parts, and so their thoughts turned to you as their leader.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
Close to the dwelling, the rest of the little company was awaiting them.
Casanova's HomecomingArthur Schnitzler
When they had gone some forty miles into the mountains, he saw a dwelling, fair and clean.
The Chinese Fairy BookVarious
Sure enough, he missed his way, and came to the dwelling of Laotzse.
The Chinese Fairy BookVarious
dwelling
- formal, literary a place of residence
dwell
- formal, literary to live as a permanent resident
- to live (in a specified state)to dwell in poverty
- a regular pause in the operation of a machine
- a flat or constant-radius portion on a linear or rotary cam enabling the cam follower to remain static for a brief time
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for dwelling
n.
"place of residence," mid-14c., verbal noun from dwell (v.).
dwell
v.
Old English dwellan "to mislead, deceive," originally "to make a fool of, lead astray," from Proto-Germanic *dwaljanan (cf. Old Norse dvöl "delay," dvali "sleep;" Middle Dutch dwellen "to stun, make giddy, perplex;" Old High German twellen "to hinder, delay;" Danish dvale "trance, stupor," dvaelbær "narcotic berry," source of Middle English dwale "nightshade"), from PIE *dhwel-, from root *dheu- (1) "dust, cloud, vapor, smoke" (and related notions of "defective perception or wits").
Related to Old English gedweola "error, heresy, madness." Sense shifted in Middle English through "hinder, delay," to "linger" (c.1200, as still in phrase to dwell upon), to "make a home" (mid-13c.). Related: Dwelled; dwelt; dwells.