Definition: dwell

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

dwell
     v 1: think moodily or anxiously about something [syn: brood, worry]
     2: originate (in); "The problems dwell in the social injustices
        in this country" [syn: consist, lie, belong, lie in]
     3: make one's home or live in; "There are only 250,000 people
        in Iceland"; "I live in a 200-year old house"; "These
        people inhabited all the islands that are now deserted";
        "The plains are sparsely populated" [syn: shack, reside,
         live, inhabit, people, populate]
     4: come back to; "Don't dwell on the past" [syn: harp]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Dwell \Dwell\, v. t.
   To inhabit. [R.] --Milton.

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 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.

Source: Easton's 1897 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; Matt. 6:19, 20) or of sun-dried bricks.
   
     God "dwells in light" (1 Tim. 6:16; 1 John 1:7), in heaven
   (Ps. 123:1), in his church (Ps. 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 (Eph. 3:17-19). The Holy
   Spirit dwells in believers (1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Tim. 1:14). We are
   exhorted to "let the word of God dwell in us richly" (Col. 3:16;
   Ps. 119:11).
   
     Dwell deep occurs only in Jer. 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.