dwell
Pronunciation Noun

dwell (plural dwells)

  1. (engineering) A period of time in which a system or component remains in a given state.
  2. (engineering) A brief pause in the motion of part of a mechanism to allow an operation to be completed.
  3. (electrical engineering) A planned delay in a timed control program.
  4. (automotive) In a petrol engine, the period of time the ignition points are closed to let current flow through the ignition coil in between each spark. This is measured as an angle in degrees around the camshaft in the distributor which controls the points, for example in a 4-cylinder engine it might be 55° (spark at 90° intervals, points closed for 55° between each).
Verb

dwell (dwells, present participle dwelling; past and past participle dwelt)

  1. (intransitive, now literary) To live; to reside.
    • the parish in which I was born, dwell, and have possessions
    • The poor man dwells in a humble cottage near the hall where the lord of the domain resides.
  2. (intransitive) To linger (on) a particular thought, idea etc.; to remain fixated (on).
  3. (intransitive, engineering) To be in a given state.
  4. (intransitive) To abide; to remain; to continue.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: Printed [by Richard Field] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 932900760 ↗, book VI, canto XII, stanza 17, page 512 ↗:
      My liefe (ſayd ſhe) ye know, that long ygo, / Whileſt ye in durance dwelt, ye to me gaue / A little mayde, the which ye chylded tho ; / The ſame againe if now ye liſt to haue, / The ſame is yonder Lady, whom high God did ſaue.
    • c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene iii]:
      I'll rather dwell in my necessity.
    • Thy soul was like a star and dwelt apart.
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