Dictionary Definition
delve v : turn up, loosen, or remove earth; "Dig
we must"; "turn over the soil for aeration" [syn: dig, cut into,
turn
over]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- /dɛlv/
- Rhymes with: -ɛlv
Verb
- To dig the ground,
especially with a shovel.
- 1847, Emily
Brontë, Wuthering Heights, chapter 29.
- I got a spade from the tool-house, and began to delve with all my might - it scraped the coffin; I fell to work with my hands; the wood commenced cracking about the screws; I was on the point of attaining my object, when it seemed that I heard a sigh from some one above, close at the edge of the grave, and bending down.
- 1847, Emily
Brontë, Wuthering Heights, chapter 29.
- To search thoroughly and carefully for information.
- She was intensely eager to delve into the mystery of Mr. Joplin and his brief case.
- To dig, to excavate.
- 1891, Arthur
Conan Doyle, The White Company, chapter IV.
- Let him take off his plates and delve himself, if delving must be done.
- 1891, Arthur
Conan Doyle, The White Company, chapter IV.
Synonyms
- italbrac to dig the ground: dig
- italbrac to search thoroughly: investigate
Translations
to dig in the ground
to search carefully for information
Derived terms
Extensive Definition
Delve is a municipality
belonging to the Amt Kirchspielslandgemeinde ("collective
municipality")
Eider in the district Dithmarschen
in Schleswig-Holstein,
in northern Germany.
The municipality covers an area of 15.85 km². Of
the total population of 734, 364 are male, and 374 are female (Dec
31, 2004). The population
density of the community is 46 inhabitants per km².
External link
delve in German: Delve
delve in Esperanto: Delve
delve in Indonesian: Delve
delve in Dutch: Delve
delve in Norwegian: Delve
delve in Portuguese: Delve
delve in Romanian: Delve
delve in Russian: Дельфе
delve in Turkish: Delve
delve in Volapük: Delve
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
backset, beat the bushes,
bore, burrow, cavity, cultivate, culture, cut, dig, dig out, dike, dredge, dress, drill, drive, excavate, explore, fallow, fertilize, forage, force, frisk, furrow, go through, gouge, gouge out, groove, grub, harrow, hoe, hollow, hunt, list, look around, look round, look
through, lower, mine, mulch, nose around, plow, pocket, poke, poke around, prune, pry, quarry, rake, research, root, sap, scoop, scoop out, scrabble, scrape, scratch, search, search through, shovel, sink, smell around, spade, thin, thin out, till, till the soil, trench, trough, tunnel, vacancy, vacuity, vacuum, void, weed, weed out, work