- Deliver
- Deliver De*liv"er, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Delivered}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Delivering}.] [F. d['e]livrer, LL. deliberare to
liberate, give over, fr. L. de + liberare to set free. See
{Liberate}.]
1. To set free from restraint; to set at liberty; to release;
to liberate, as from control; to give up; to free; to
save; to rescue from evil actual or feared; -- often with
from or out of; as, to deliver one from captivity, or from
fear of death.
[1913 Webster]
He that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. --Ezek. xxxiii. 5. [1913 Webster]
Promise was that I Should Israel from Philistian yoke deliver. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
2. To give or transfer; to yield possession or control of; to part with (to); to make over; to commit; to surrender; to resign; -- often with up or over, to or into. [1913 Webster]
Thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand. --Gen. xl. 13. [1913 Webster]
The constables have delivered her over. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
The exalted mind All sense of woe delivers to the wind. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
3. To make over to the knowledge of another; to communicate; to utter; to speak; to impart. [1913 Webster]
Till he these words to him deliver might. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
Whereof the former delivers the precepts of the art, and the latter the perfection. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
4. To give forth in action or exercise; to discharge; as, to deliver a blow; to deliver a broadside, or a ball. [1913 Webster]
Shaking his head and delivering some show of tears. --Sidney. [1913 Webster]
An uninstructed bowler . . . thinks to attain the jack by delivering his bowl straightforward upon it. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
5. To free from, or disburden of, young; to relieve of a child in childbirth; to bring forth; -- often with of. [1913 Webster]
She was delivered safe and soon. --Gower. [1913 Webster]
Tully was long ere he could be delivered of a few verses, and those poor ones. --Peacham. [1913 Webster]
6. To discover; to show. [Poetic] [1913 Webster]
I 'll deliver Myself your loyal servant. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
7. To deliberate. [Obs.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
8. To admit; to allow to pass. [Obs.] --Bacon.
Syn: To {Deliver}, {Give Forth}, {Discharge}, {Liberate}, {Pronounce}, {Utter}.
Usage: Deliver denotes, literally, to set free. Hence the term is extensively applied to cases where a thing is made to pass from a confined state to one of greater freedom or openness. Hence it may, in certain connections, be used as synonymous with any or all of the above-mentioned words, as will be seen from the following examples: One who delivers a package gives it forth; one who delivers a cargo discharges it; one who delivers a captive liberates him; one who delivers a message or a discourse utters or pronounces it; when soldiers deliver their fire, they set it free or give it forth. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.