delve
delve Lexical Profile
delve Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To conduct thorough research, inquiry, or investigation into a subject or mystery (usually followed by 'into').
"The historian spent years delving into municipal archives to reconstruct the town's early economy."
To reach inside a receptacle, bag, or pocket and search deeply for something.
"She delved into her handbag to find her reading glasses before the lecture began."
To dig or excavate the earth with a spade or other tool (archaic or literary).
"Laborers delved the stony soil to lay the foundations of the medieval abbey."
• noun
A hollow, pit, den, or small valley in the ground (now primarily literary or dialectal).
"The hikers rested in a shaded grassy delve sheltered from the mountain wind."
• Rhymes for delve
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'delfan' (to dig, burrow, or excavate), derived from Proto-Germanic '*delbana'. Originally a strong irregular verb (past tense 'dalf'), it gradually shifted to a regular weak verb ('delved') during the Middle English period and became primarily figurative.