De*liv"er (?), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Delivered (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Delivering.] [F. délivrer, 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.
He that taketh warning shall deliver his
soul.
Ezek. xxxiii. 5.
Promise was that I
Should Israel from Philistian yoke deliver.
Milton.
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.
Shak.
The exalted mind
All sense of woe delivers to the wind.
Pope.
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.
Spenser.
Whereof the former delivers the precepts of the
art, and the latter the perfection.
Bacon.
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.
Sir W. Scott.
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.
Shak.
7. To deliberate. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
8. To admit; to allow to pass. [Obs.]
Bacon.
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.
De*liv"er, a. [OF. delivre free,
unfettered. See Deliver, v. t.] Free;
nimble; sprightly; active. [Obs.]
Wonderly deliver and great of
strength.
Chaucer.
