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dwelling

dwelling

65 2.9
A house or apartment where someone lives
  • noun
  • /ˈdwɛlɪŋ/
: vivienda
  • The old brick dwelling was renovated to provide modern amenities while preserving its historic charm.
  • live in a dwelling
  • a dwelling unit
  • a dwelling house

They don't have fixed dwellings, so they don't have a house.

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Examples

  • Their dwellings are made of wood and stone and are fastened to the ground.

  • Each block contained two or three dwellings for the veterans and their families.

  • A man just bought the most expensive home dwelling in America.

  • We made a home of it, that dwelling in a stone building in a foreign land.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • But this dwelling is no longer acceptable.

  • They say over a million dwellings collapsed.

  • They rebuilt the old slave quarters, but in individual dwellings for families.

  • The paintings' cool earth tones make the villages' modest stone-and-mud dwellings blend seamlessly with the rolling hills.

    Academic text (1990)
  • After a long search, they finally found a cozy dwelling near the beach that felt just like home.

  • The archaeologists discovered ancient dwellings that dated back thousands of years in the desert.

Synonyms

home
vsdwelling
∞ 1.0

A place where someone lives and feels they belong

is the neutral living location without the belonging or emotional sense
place
vsdwelling
∞ 1.0

A person's home where they live

is the neutral term used in wider or more formal contexts
residence
vsdwelling
253 2.5

A house or other place where someone lives

is any living location, not limited to long term stays
abode
vsdwelling
26 5.8

A place where someone lives, like a house

is the neutral term for any location someone lives in
living quarters
vsdwelling
18 2.8

Rooms or small buildings where people live inside a larger place

is any living location, not only rooms inside larger buildings
domicile
vsdwelling
  • Formal
9 7.6

The place where a person lives permanently for legal and tax purposes

is the ordinary living location without legal or permanence focus
habitation
vsdwelling
4 5.1

A place where a person or animal lives

is limited to human living locations, not general animal habitats
dwelling house
vsdwelling
2.8

A house or building where people live, not a business building

is any living location, including non building types such as apartments

Antonyms

5 2.7

An empty space or area with nothing in it

Compounds

1 8.0

A house built into the side of a cliff on a natural ledge, often of stone and mud

basement-dwelling
  • Offensive
1 8.0

A person who lives in a basement and has little contact with other people

A way of living in a basement and keeping to yourself, often with little money

A habit of always expecting the worst in situations

A fish that lives near the bottom of lakes, rivers, or the sea

A house or building where people live, not a business building

A house or group of houses built on wooden posts at the edge of a lake long ago

pile dwelling
  • Specialized
8.0

A house built on wooden or stone posts that stands above water

A house that stands alone and is not attached to other houses

How Big

mansion
327 3.4
villa
55 3.2
house
∞ 1.0
dwelling
65 2.9
cabin
351 1.0
hut
217 1.0

Surface Forms

dwelling singular
dwellings plural

Morphology

dwelling = dwell (transparent) = dwell + ing

A regular deverbal nominalization: 'dwell' (to live) + '-ing' yields a noun meaning the place of residence, which is directly predictable.

Etymology

Dwelling comes from the verb dwell, which means 'to live' or 'stay' in one place. So a dwelling is the place where someone lives.