Category:Dwell

Dwell, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dwelled, usually contracted into Dwelt (p. pr. & vb. n. Dwelling.] Etym: [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dvæle to linger, and to E. dull. See Dull, and cf. Dwale.]

1. To delay; to linger. [Obs.]

2. To abide; to remain; to continue. I 'll rather dwell in my necessity. Shak. Thy soul was like a star and dwelt apart. Wordsworth.

3. To abide as a permanent resident, or for a time; to live in a place; to reside. The parish in which I was born, dwell, and have possessions. Peacham. The poor man dwells in a humble cottage near the hall where the lord of the domain resides. C. J. Smith. To dwell in, to abide in (a place); hence, to depend on. "My hopes in heaven to dwell." Shak. -- To dwell on or upon, to continue long on or in; to remain absorbed with; to stick to; to make much of; as, to dwell upon a subject; a singer dwells on a note. They stand at a distance, dwelling on his looks and language, fixed in amazement. Buckminster.

Syn. -- To inhabit; live; abide; sojourn; reside; continue; stay; rest.

dwell Dwell, v. t.

Defn: To inhabit. [R.] Milton.

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

Dwell - Tents were in primitive times the common dwellings of men. Houses were afterwards built, the walls of which were frequently of mud (Job 24:16; Matthew 6:19, Matthew 6:20) or of sun-dried bricks. God "dwells in light" (1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 1:7), in heaven (Psalms 123:1), in His church (Psalms 9:11; 1 John 4:12). Christ dwelt on earth in the days of his humiliation (John 1:14). He now dwells in the hearts of His people (Ephesians 3:17). The Holy Spirit dwells in believers (1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Timothy 1:14). We are exhorted to "let the Word of God dwell in us richly" (Colossians 3:16; Psalms 119:11). Dwell deep occurs only in Jeremiah 49:8, and refers to the custom of seeking refuge from impending danger, in retiring to the recesses of rocks and caverns, or to remote places in the desert.