dwell
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to keep thinking or talking about something for a long time, especially something bad or sad.
v.to linger on a particular thought, idea, or past event, typically with obsessive or regretful focus. Intransitive, usually taking the preposition 'on'.
Simple“It is not healthy to dwell on your past mistakes for too long.”
In context“The speaker chose not to dwell on the recent budget cuts, focusing instead on the ambitious expansion plans for the coming fiscal year.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
v.to live in a specified place.
v.to reside or have one's habitation in a particular location. Intransitive; often followed by a prepositional phrase of place.
Simple“The old stories tell of strange creatures that dwell deep in the forest.”
In context“In his later poetry, he often wrote of the spirits that supposedly dwell within the rugged peaks of his homeland.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
n.a short pause in the movement of a machine to let a task finish.
n.a deliberate, timed pause in the motion of a mechanical part or a control sequence to allow for a specific operation. Often used as a modifier in technical compounds.
Simple“The machine has a two-second dwell to let the glue dry before the next step.”
In context“Adjusting the dwell time on the assembly line ensured that the robotic arm had sufficient clearance before the conveyor resumed its cycle.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
n.the time that electrical points stay closed in an engine to build up power for a spark.
n.the period or angle during which the ignition contact breaker points remain closed to allow current to flow through the primary coil.
Simple“If the dwell is not set correctly, the car engine might not start easily.”
In context“The mechanic used a specialized meter to verify that the dwell angle was within the manufacturer's specifications for a four-cylinder engine.”
Synonymsdwell angle
“It's the decision to not dwell and the decision to look forward rather than in the past." Love You To Death will be broadcast on Channel 4 at 21:00 BST.”
“Instead, it was a separate entrance for a hated and despised minority who dwelled in Moustey, as well as throughout the rest of the Landes region and into the Basque country of Spain.”
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰwel-der. Proto-Germanic *dwalaz Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *dwaljaną Proto-West Germanic *dwalljan Old English dwellan ▲ Old Norse dveljainflu. Middle English dwellen English dwell From Middle English dwellen (“delay, live, remain, persist”), from Old English dwellan (“to mislead, deceive; be led into error, stray”), from Proto-Germanic dwaljaną (“to hold up, delay; hesitate”), from Proto-Indo-European dʰwelH- (“to whirl, swirl, blur, obfuscate”), which is cognate with Old Norse dvelja and related to Proto-Germanic *dwelaną (“to go astray”), which underwent semantic change in its descendants. Cognates include Danish dvæle (“to linger, dwell”) and Swedish dväljas (“to dwell, reside”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.