The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
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He that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
--Ezek.
xxxiii. 5.
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Promise was that I
Should Israel from Philistian yoke deliver.
--Milton.
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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.
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Thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand.
--Gen. xl. 13.
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The constables have delivered her over. --Shak.
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The exalted mind
All sense of woe delivers to the wind. --Pope.
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3. To make over to the knowledge of another; to communicate;
to utter; to speak; to impart.
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Till he these words to him deliver might. --Spenser.
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Whereof the former delivers the precepts of the art,
and the latter the perfection. --Bacon.
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4. To give forth in action or exercise; to discharge; as, to
deliver a blow; to deliver a broadside, or a ball.
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Shaking his head and delivering some show of tears.
--Sidney.
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An uninstructed bowler . . . thinks to attain the
jack by delivering his bowl straightforward upon it.
--Sir W.
Scott.
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5. To free from, or disburden of, young; to relieve of a
child in childbirth; to bring forth; -- often with of.
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She was delivered safe and soon. --Gower.
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Tully was long ere he could be delivered of a few
verses, and those poor ones. --Peacham.
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6. To discover; to show. [Poetic]
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I 'll deliver
Myself your loyal servant. --Shak.
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7. To deliberate. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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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.
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