delve

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delve

 (dĕlv)
v. delved, delv·ing, delves
v.intr.
1. To search deeply and laboriously: delved through the court records.
2.
a. To research or make inquiries into something: scientists delving into gene regulation.
b. To undertake an activity or occupation undeterred by difficulty or uncertainty: delved into writing a blog.
c. To discuss or explain something, especially in detail: The article delves into the problems facing the banking system.
3. To enter or move into an area in which movement is difficult: The explorers delved into the forest.
4. To dig the ground, as with a spade.
v.tr.
Archaic To dig (ground) with a spade.

[Middle English delven, to dig, from Old English delfan.]

delv′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

delve

(dɛlv)
vb (mainly intr; often foll by in or into)
1. to inquire or research deeply or intensively (for information, etc): he delved in the Bible for quotations.
2. to search or rummage (in a drawer, the pockets, etc)
3. (Zoology) (esp of an animal) to dig or burrow deeply (into the ground, etc)
4. (also tr) archaic or dialect to dig or turn up (earth, a garden, etc), as with a spade
[Old English delfan; related to Old High German telban to dig, Russian dolbit to hollow out with a chisel]
ˈdelver n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

delve

(dɛlv)

v. delved, delv•ing. v.i.
1. to carry on intensive and thorough research for data, information, or the like.
2. Archaic. to dig, as with a spade.
v.t.
3. Archaic. to dig; excavate.
[before 900; Middle English; Old English delfan; c. Old Saxon -delban, Old High German -telban]
delv′er, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

delve


Past participle: delved
Gerund: delving

Imperative
delve
delve
Present
I delve
you delve
he/she/it delves
we delve
you delve
they delve
Preterite
I delved
you delved
he/she/it delved
we delved
you delved
they delved
Present Continuous
I am delving
you are delving
he/she/it is delving
we are delving
you are delving
they are delving
Present Perfect
I have delved
you have delved
he/she/it has delved
we have delved
you have delved
they have delved
Past Continuous
I was delving
you were delving
he/she/it was delving
we were delving
you were delving
they were delving
Past Perfect
I had delved
you had delved
he/she/it had delved
we had delved
you had delved
they had delved
Future
I will delve
you will delve
he/she/it will delve
we will delve
you will delve
they will delve
Future Perfect
I will have delved
you will have delved
he/she/it will have delved
we will have delved
you will have delved
they will have delved
Future Continuous
I will be delving
you will be delving
he/she/it will be delving
we will be delving
you will be delving
they will be delving
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been delving
you have been delving
he/she/it has been delving
we have been delving
you have been delving
they have been delving
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been delving
you will have been delving
he/she/it will have been delving
we will have been delving
you will have been delving
they will have been delving
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been delving
you had been delving
he/she/it had been delving
we had been delving
you had been delving
they had been delving
Conditional
I would delve
you would delve
he/she/it would delve
we would delve
you would delve
they would delve
Past Conditional
I would have delved
you would have delved
he/she/it would have delved
we would have delved
you would have delved
they would have delved
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.delve - turn up, loosen, or remove earthdelve - turn up, loosen, or remove earth; "Dig we must"; "turn over the soil for aeration"
remove, take away, withdraw, take - remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract; "remove a threat"; "remove a wrapper"; "Remove the dirty dishes from the table"; "take the gun from your pocket"; "This machine withdraws heat from the environment"
furrow, groove, rut - hollow out in the form of a furrow or groove; "furrow soil"
rootle, rout, root - dig with the snout; "the pig was rooting for truffles"
shovel - dig with or as if with a shovel; "shovel sand"; "he shovelled in the backyard all afternoon long"
trowel - use a trowel on; for light garden work or plaster work
burrow, tunnel - move through by or as by digging; "burrow through the forest"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

delve

verb
1. research, investigate, explore, examine, probe, look into, burrow, dig into She delved into her mother's past.
2. rummage, search, look into, burrow, ransack, forage, dig into, fossick (Austral. & N.Z.) He delved into his rucksack and pulled out a folder.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

delve

verb
1. To go into or through for the purpose of making discoveries or acquiring information:
2. To break, turn over, or remove (earth or sand, for example) with or as if with a tool:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

delve

[delv] VI to delve into [+ pocket, cupboard] → hurgar en, rebuscar en; [+ subject] → profundizar en, ahondar en; [+ past] → hurgar en
we must delve deepertenemos que profundizar or ahondar todavía más
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

delve

[ˈdɛlv] vi
(= reach, search) to delve into sth [+ cupboard, bag] → fouiller dans qch
(= investigate) to delve into sth [+ subject, past] → fouiller dans qch
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

delve

vi (into subject) → sich eingehend befassen (into mit); (into book) → sich vertiefen (→ into in +acc); to delve in(to) one’s pocket/a drawertief in die Tasche/eine Schublade greifen; to delve into the pastdie Vergangenheit erforschen
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

delve

[dɛlv] vi to delve into (pocket, bag) → frugare in; (subject) → far ricerche in
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
It was the work of a man who had delved into the hidden depths of nature and had discovered secrets which were beautiful and fearful too.
He delved into the treasures of the life-book and used them freely.
Vincy's face, in which forty-five years had delved neither angles nor parallels; and pushing back her pink capstrings, she let her work rest on her lap, while she looked admiringly at her daughter.
For weeks and for months we dug and delved in every part of the garden, without discovering its whereabouts.
Delved sites have distinct areas of clay modification with strips along the delve line spaced 0.8-1.5 m apart within which the soil is disturbed to ~60-75 cm (Davenport et al.