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The Collaborative International Dictionary
To dwell in

Dwell \Dwell\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dwelled, usually contracted into Dwelt (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dwelling.] [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dv["a]ljas to dwell, Dan. dv[ae]le 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 To dwell 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.

Usage examples of "to dwell in".

They are generally pictured as having abandoned city living to retire alone into the wilderness, there to dwell in harmony with nature.

Born under different stars, reared in totally different cultures, they were come to dwell in this place at this time for differing reasons but for a single purpose.

Ally tended to take most of Jake's sexual-political theories with a pinch of post-modernism, but a retrospective analysis of his break-ups did unearth certain recurrences in the preceding days or weeks, notably a tendency on his girlfriends' parts to dwell in front of estate agents or Pronuptia outlets.

But he required of them each a hostage, of twelve years old or less, of their blood and body and legitimate household, to dwell in the Queen's castle.

A cold wind blew from the north-where Death was said to dwell in the old tales of Soriyya, the tales told before Jad had come to the people of the south, along with the legend of his son.

He too had been touched by some power that he did not understand, that seemed to dwell in the old man's words.

The driver insisted first on showing him the town he was to dwell in for a space, or it may have been a matter of his not knowing where the Sheraton Hotel was and hoping to find it by dint of cruising the entire city around.