Deliver /(?)/

De·liv·er

Deliver

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Delivered; p. pr. & vb. n. Delivering

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

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.

Deliver

a.
  1. Free; nimble; sprightly; active. [Obs.]
    Wonderly deliver and great of strength.