Library / English Dictionary

MARVEL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: marvelled    , marvelling   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something that causes feelings of wonder

Example:

the wonders of modern science

Synonyms:

marvel; wonder

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("marvel" is a kind of...):

happening; natural event; occurrence; occurrent (an event that happens)

Derivation:

marvel (be amazed at)

marvel (express astonishment or surprise about something)

marvellous; marvelous (being or having the character of a miracle)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be amazed at

Example:

We marvelled at the child's linguistic abilities

Synonyms:

marvel; wonder

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "marvel" is one way to...):

react; respond (show a response or a reaction to something)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue marvel over the results of the experiment

Derivation:

marvel (something that causes feelings of wonder)

marveller (someone filled with admiration and awe; someone who wonders at something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Express astonishment or surprise about something

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "marvel" is one way to...):

express; give tongue to; utter; verbalise; verbalize (articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue marvel over the results of the experiment

Derivation:

marvel (something that causes feelings of wonder)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I am loath to think it, and indeed it would be almost as great a marvel as the other to find that Van Helsing was mad; but anyhow I shall watch him carefully.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“There is a furnished little set of chambers to be let in the Adelphi, Trot, which ought to suit you to a marvel.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Where she obtained this strength was the marvel to me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I marvel that ye should have come upon none of them before, for across the water they are as common as gallybaggers.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But there was little time in which to marvel.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

As I looked at them I marvelled that I could ever have longed to leave them, or that I could bring myself to leave them again.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Always he declined company on these expeditions, and the people marvelled.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

There is the secret of that Cornish seclusion which people have marvelled at.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And so terribly did he live this vendetta that Grey Beaver, fierce savage himself, could not but marvel at White Fang's ferocity.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The strangest thing of all was, that not a soul in the house, except me, noticed her habits, or seemed to marvel at them: no one discussed her position or employment; no one pitied her solitude or isolation.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)