- present participle of dwell.
dwelling
Americannoun
-
dwellings
plural
noun
Synonym Usage
See house.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dwelling
Explanation
A dwelling is a home — where someone lives. Houses, apartments, and condos are all dwellings. If you know that to dwell means to live somewhere, then the meaning of dwelling won't be a surprise: it's an abode, domicile, or home. Your dwelling might be a house or an apartment. Tents, trailers, and igloos are all dwellings. Anything people live in is a dwelling. If you have no dwelling, then you have no shelter and you're probably homeless.
Vocabulary lists containing dwelling
Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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There's No Word Like Home
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "D"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Those predators included anacondas, saber toothed mammals, flightless "terror birds" and sebecids, a group of land dwelling relatives of crocodylians.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
Recent policies that make it easier to build accessory dwelling units could help create a new source of rental units, she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
The 4,021-square-foot dwelling has five bedrooms and four bathrooms.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
The decline in dwelling prices has gathered momentum in recent months as interest rates have risen, while a decision make tax arrangements less attractive for property investors has also weighed on the market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
It didn’t occur to me until later that dwelling in the realm of the spirits could bring danger, especially to an ugly girl in a time when the rains didn’t come.
From "The Ugly One" by Leanne Statland Ellis
The 2026 Homeless Count recorded just 27 unhoused individuals in 16 dwellings, such as vehicles, tents or makeshift shelters, in Malibu.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
MetroLoft transformed the 19th-century warehouse into luxury dwellings that attracted A-list celebrities, including actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Meg Ryan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
But its soaring atriums decorated with onyx and green marble could hardly be better calculated to induce jealousy in Trump, who frequently raves about the opulent dwellings of other foreign leaders.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
And, unlike the AD100-approved interior designers and architects that so many Hollywood stars rely on to bring their dream dwellings to life, the tie that binds these A-listers is actually accessible to the average homeowner.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
Citizens were given dwellings when they were assigned spouses.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
