dwell
part of speech
verb (dwell, dwells, dwelt or dwelled, dwelling)
meaning for a pupil
1) (formal or old-fashioned) To live somewhere: Bears dwell in the forest. tree →
2) dwell on / upon = keep thinking or talking about something, usually something sad or bad: Don't dwell on your mistakes. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories and science books animals «dwell» in places (cave-dwelling bats, city dwellers); in everyday advice «don't dwell on it» means stop worrying about something that has happened. Phrases: «dwell on», «city dwellers», «cave-dwelling».
examples
- Long ago, people dwelt in caves. tree →
- Owls dwell in hollow trees. tree →
- Don't dwell on the test you failed; get ready for the next one. tree →
- She dwelt on the sad news all day. tree →
- Most city dwellers live in flats. tree →
- Strange fish dwell deep in the ocean. tree →
- Only wives and maidens dwell there. tree →
note
Past: dwelt (UK, more common) or dwelled (US). Noun: dwelling = a house or home (formal); dweller = a person or animal that lives somewhere. In everyday speech say «live», not «dwell».
In the corpora
- «it is quite against animal-etiquette to dwell on possible trouble ahead» — etiquette = the rules of polite behaviour.
- And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
- And Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle.
- God enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be their servant.
- And the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «dwell» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.