Delve

Definition: Delve

Delve

Verb

1. Turn up, loosen, or remove earth; "Dig we must"; "turn over the soil for aeration".

Date "delve" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1385. (references)

Synonyms: Delve

Synonyms: cut into (v), dig (v), turn over (v). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Agriculture	Verb: cultivate; till the soil; farm, garden; sow, plant; reap, mow, cut; manure, dress the ground, dig, delve, dibble, hoe, plough, plow, harrow, rake, weed, lop and top; backset.
Concavity	Render concave; Adjective: depress, hollow; scoop, scoop out; gouge, gouge out, dig, delve, excavate, dent, dint, mine, sap, undermine, burrow, tunnel, stave in.
Dissertation	Hold forth, discourse, delve into.
Inquiry	Examine, study, consider, calculate; dip into, dive into, delve into, go deep into; make sure of, probe, sound, fathom; probe to the bottom, probe to the quick; scrutinize, analyze, anatomize, dissect, parse, resolve, sift, winnow; view in all its phases, try in all its phases; thresh out.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Delve

English words defined with "delve": Dalf, Delved, Delving, Dolf, Dolven ♦ Underdelve. (references)

Etymologies containing "delve": Dalf, Dolf, Dolven. (references)

Domain

Usage

Screenplays

When one is in Egypt, one should delve deeply into its treasures. (The Spy Who Loved Me; writing credit: Christopher Wood)

You wanna know who he is? Try this: delve down into the deepest bowels of your soul. (On Deadly Ground; writing credit: Ed Horowitz; Robin U. Russin)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Music	Wriggley Rag: Musical Delve Into 1912 (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

"Delve" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 81.11% of the time. "Delve" is used about 90 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Lexical Verb (infinitive)	81.11%	73	39,105
Lexical Verb (base form)	15.56%	14	93,893
Noun (proper)	2.22%	2	245,945
Noun (singular)	1.11%	1	339,140
Total	100.00%	90	N/A

Expressions using "delve": delve among ♦ delve into ♦ delve into one's bag ♦ delve into the past. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "delve"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		rrëmoj (dig, dive, ferret about, ferret out, forage, Mold, mole, mould, rout, rummage, scavenge, search), gërmoj nëpër libra, bëj gjurmime. (various references)

Arabic		‏نقب (burrow, burrowing, comb, drilling, excavation, fish, mine, piercing, pry, quest, rake, ransack, root, rout out, rummage, scour, scrabble about, scrutinize, sleuth), ‏حفر عميقا. (various references)

Bulgarian		спускам се надолу (slant), ровя (burrow, dig, fish, grub, poke about, rake about, rout about, scratch around), ров (dike, ditch, excavation, pit, trench), копая (break ground, dig, dredge, excavate, fossick, grub, hoe, mine, navvy, pickax, scoop, scoop out, shovel), задълбочавам се (dive, immerse, pore), бърлога (cubbyhole, den, hole, house, lair, pandemonium, retreat, sanctum), падина (depression, dimple, dip, dish, fold, hollow, hope, pocket, trough), дълбая (carve, cave, chamber, chip, corrode, excavate, hollow, wear away), дупка (cavity, chamber, dump, earth, gap, hole, hutch, leak, mesh, opening, perforation, pit, pore, rent, scoop, tear, vent). (various references)

Chinese		探讨 (Delved, Delving). (various references)

Czech		zažrat se, ponořit se (dip, dive, duck, immerse, plunge, submerge). (various references)

Farsi		کاوش کردن (Explore, Pry), گودی (Dent, Depth, Dint, Groove, Lacuna, Valley), حفره (Cavern, Cavity, Cell, Dale, Ditch, Hole, Lacuna, Pit, Pothole, Sinus, Socket, Ventricle), سوراخ کردن 1 (Bore, Broach, Gimlet, Gore, Impale, Notch, Perforate, Punch, Puncture, Scuttle, Slot, Spit, Stab, Steek, Stick, Thrust, Transfix). (various references)

Finnish		kaivaa (burrow, cut, dig, dig out, disinter, drive, excavate, exhume, grub, pick, spade, to dig, to excavate, to spade). (various references)

French		fouiller dans, creuser, étudier un sujet � fond. (various references)

German		erforschen (ascertain, examine, explore, exploring, investigate, probe, prosecute, require into, research, researching, study, to explore). (various references)

Greek		σκάβω (burrow, dig, dig out, dig up, excavate). (various references)

Hebrew		לחקור (explore, inquire into, probe, quest, scrutinize, search), ל�"תעמק (go deeply into, think deeply). (various references)

Hungarian		üreg (cave, cavern, cavity, chamber, cove, cubbyhole, excavation, foss, fossa, fosse, hole, hollow, lodge, pot hole, recess, sinus, socket, vug, well), mélyedés (cove, cup, dell, dent, hollow, pit, recess, scoop), barlang (cave, cavern, cove, den, grot, grotto, grottoes). (various references)

Indonesian		menyelidiki (investigate, probe), gali (dig, dig up, unearth). (various references)

Italian		zappare (dig, hoe, to grub), scavare (cave, dig, ditch, excavate, hollow, mine, pick, plough, plow, scoop out, scour, to dig away, to grub), rivangare (dig up), fare ricerche (research). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		掘り下�'る (to delve into, to dig down, to get to the bottom of, to investigate further). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		ほりさ�'る (to delve into, to dig down, to get to the bottom of, to investigate further). (various references)

Korean		탐구하십시�" (Explore). (various references)

Manx		reuyrey (dig, dig up, root, spade), cleiy (dig, dig out, digging, earthwork, harvest, hedge, hedging, quarry), cassey sheese. (various references)

Pig Latin		elveday

Portuguese		depressão � superfície, sondar (bring in, fathomless, Gage, gauge, probe, prospect, pump, scan), pesquisar (comb out, examine, explore, investigate, prospect, research, rummage, run, search, study, survey), investigar (burrow, dub, enquire, examine, explore, inquire, investigate, look for, look on, placatory, place, query, rake, rake up, research, rummage, scrutinize, search into, seek, sit on, spy, study, to investigate), escavar (cave, chip, dig, dig in, erode, examine, excavate, explore, gouge, grub, gully, gutter, hollow, investigate, mole, pit, research, scoop, to dig away, to excavate, wash out), cavidade (antrum, belly, bowl, bunt, cave, cavitation bubble, cavity, cavity resonator, chuck-hole, Dent, hole, hollow, matrix, microwave resource cavity, resonant cavity, resonant chamber, resonant element, rhumbatron, saucer-shaped pit, scar, scoop, subsidence, tuned cavity, vesicle, waveguide resonator), caverna (antre, cave, cavern, cavity, den, grotto, haunt, hollow, lair), cavar (burrow, cave, dig, dish, ditch, excavate, grub, hoeing, hole, hollow, mole, pit, scoop, spade), baixar de repente. (various references)

Romanian		depresiune (basin, blues, bottom, cave, cavity, dejection, depression, despondency, draw, hollow, melancholia, notch, pan, sag, scoop), se adânci (burrow, deepen), se îngropa, sãpa (burrow, cave, cut, dig, drive, engraft, engrave, excavate, grave, hoe, hole, hollow, inscribe, lift, mine, pick, sink, spud, trench, undermine), cerceta (analyse, analyze, anatomize, ask, canvass, case, consider, consult, cross-question, dip into, examine, excogiate, explore, inspect, introspect, investigate, look at, look into, look over, look through, overlook, peer, pursue, question, reconnoitre, research, screen, scrutinize, search, search into, seek, sift, sound, study, survey, test, try, visit), cavitate (cave, cavity, dimple, hole, hollow, hollowness, recess, socket), adânciturã (Dent, depression, hollow, indent, pan, pit, trough), adânci (aggravate, Bury, corrode, deepen, excavate, fathom, further, gouge, hole, sound, submerge, subside). (various references)

Russian		рыться (grub, quarry, rake), рыть (dig, excavate, gopher), копаться (root in, rummage), копать (dig, excavate, lift, mole), впадина (cave, cavity, concave, depression, dimple, dint, excavation, falling, fossa, hollow, indentation, notch, recess, trough, vug). (various references)

Scottish		ruamhair (dig, dig with a spade). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		zadubiti se, rupčaga, kopati (dig, dredge, gopher, mine, prospect). (various references)

Spanish		investigo, investigar hasta, cavar (dig, dig up, grub, hoeing, mole, pick, scoop out, spade, to dig, to spade, to turn, to turn up), ahondar (deepen). (various references)

Swedish		gräva (burrow, cut, dig, digging, excavate, grub, mine, scoop, sink, spade, to dig, to spade, turning up). (various references)

Turkish		arayıp taramak (comb, comb out, rake), altüst ederek aramak (delve among). (various references)

Ukranian		яма (barathrum, hole, pit), ритися (burrow, quarry, root about, rummage, scrabble), рити (cave, dig, gopher, mole, shovel, trench), шурф (trench), комати, компатися, викопувати (dig, dig out, dig up, excavate, grub up, rout out), вибій (bank, chuck-hole, pothole), заглиблюватися у вивчення, западина (cave, cavity, concave, concavity, depth, fossa, pit, sink). (various references)

Vietnamese		hốc (pit, socket), chỗ trũng, chỗ lõm sâu xuống. (various references)

Welsh		turio (burrow, root up), palu (dig), cloddio (dig, mine, quarry). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "delve": delved, delver, delvers, delves. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Delve" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: dalf, Davlec, Dehlavi, delavayi, delce, Delcev, delden, delee, delem, delev, delf, delfen, delge, delie, delive, Delme, delqe, Delvaux, Delvi, delvie, deve, D'eve, devel, devey, devle, dilge, dolv, dwelf, dwelve, edle, elev, pelve. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "delve" (pronounced de"lv)
3	-e" l v	shelve, twelve.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Direct Anagrams: devel.
	Words within the letters "d-e-e-l-v"
	-1 letter: dele, veld.
	-2 letters: dee, del, dev, eel, eld, eve, led, lee, lev, vee.
	-3 letters: de, ed, el.
	Words containing the letters "d-e-e-l-v"
	+1 letter: delved, delver, delves, devels, helved, leaved, leveed, levied, vealed, veiled.
	+2 letters: bedevil, beloved, beveled, cleaved, deleave, deliver, delvers, devalue, develed, develop, deviled, devolve, evolved, gaveled, hoveled, leveled, levered, livened, raveled, relived, reveled, reviled, shelved, sleaved, sleeved, valeted, velured, vexedly.
	+3 letters: bedevils, bedrivel, believed, beloveds, beslaved, bevelled, clavered, deleaved, deleaves, delivers, delivery, delusive, desilver, devalued, devalues, develing, develope, develops, deverbal, devilled, devolved, devolves, dishevel, dovelike, driveled, driveler, elevated, enslaved, evadable, evadible, evildoer, gavelled, graveled, groveled, hovelled, laveered, lavender, leavened, levanted, levelled, liveried, louvered, marveled, medieval, overheld, overidle, overlade, overlend, overlewd, ravelled, relieved, resolved, revalued, revealed, revelled, revolted, revolved, revulsed, selvaged, selvedge, shoveled, silvered, slavered, slivered, sniveled, swiveled, traveled, unlevied, unveiled, veiledly, velveted, vendable, vendible, vesseled, volleyed, weeviled.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.