Word
delve
US/ˈdɛɫv/
UK/dˈɛlv/
Definition
v. to search for information by looking deeply into something. You use this when you want to find out more about a topic or a secret.
v. to research or investigate something thoroughly and systematically. Often used metaphorically to describe a deep mental or academic inquiry.
Examples
“We need to delve into the data to find the answer.”
“The journalist decided to delve into the company's financial history to uncover the truth about the missing funds.”
“To understand the author's true intentions, one must delve into the historical context of the era and the personal tragedies that shaped his worldview.”
Examples
simple
“We need to delve into the data to find the answer.”
contextual
“The journalist decided to delve into the company's financial history to uncover the truth about the missing funds.”
complex
“To understand the author's true intentions, one must delve into the historical context of the era and the personal tragedies that shaped his worldview.”
Usage
Intransitive; almost always followed by the preposition 'into'.
Pitfall
delve the archives
delve into the archives
Delve is an intransitive verb and requires the preposition 'into' before the object.
Real-World Examples
Common in culture and history writing
“Schulz Paulsson also delved through excavation reports from megalith sites across the continent, looking for crucial contexts that could help make the dating more precise.” “This team should retain a lot of their positivity, but do so without delving into the recklessness and inflexibility we saw before.” “While Prenuvo and Ezra offer a whole-body MRI scan, I've opted for Neko Health, which doesn't delve quite as deeply, and comes with a more modest £299 price tag.” Etymology
From Middle English delven, from Old English delfan (“to dig, dig out, burrow, bury”), from Proto-Germanic delbaną (“to dig”), from Proto-Indo-European dʰelbʰ- (“to dig”). Cognate with West Frisian dolle (“to dig, delve”), Dutch delven (“to dig, delve”), Low German dölven (“to dig, delve”), dialectal German delben, telben (“to dig, delve”).
From Middle English delve, delf, dælf, from Old English delf, ġedelf (“digging”) and dælf (“that which is dug out, delf, ditch”). More at delf.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/delve