Part 138

De*liv"er*ance (?), n. [F. délivrance, fr. délivrer.] 1. The act of delivering or freeing from restraint, captivity, peril, and the like; rescue; as, the deliverance of a captive.

He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives.

Luke iv. 18.

One death or one deliverance we will share.

Dryden.

2. Act of bringing forth children. [Archaic] Shak.

3. Act of speaking; utterance. [Archaic] Shak.

In this and in the preceding sense delivery is the word more commonly used.

4. The state of being delivered, or freed from restraint.

I do desire deliverance from these officers.

Shak.

5. Anything delivered or communicated; esp., an opinion or decision expressed publicly. [Scot.]

6. (Metaph.) Any fact or truth which is decisively attested or intuitively known as a psychological or philosophical datum; as, the deliverance of consciousness.

De*liv"er*er (?), n. 1. One who delivers or rescues; a preserver.

2. One who relates or communicates.

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De*liv"er*ess (?), n. A female deliverer. [R.] Evelyn.

De*liv"er*ly, adv. Actively; quickly; nimbly. [Obs.]

Swim with your bodies, And carry it sweetly and deliverly.

Beau. & Fl.

De*liv"er*ness, n. Nimbleness; agility. [Obs.]

De*liv"er*y, n.; pl. Deliveries (&?;). 1. The act of delivering from restraint; rescue; release; liberation; as, the delivery of a captive from his dungeon.

2. The act of delivering up or over; surrender; transfer of the body or substance of a thing; distribution; as, the delivery of a fort, of hostages, of a criminal, of goods, of letters.

3. The act or style of utterance; manner of speaking; as, a good delivery; a clear delivery.

4. The act of giving birth; parturition; the expulsion or extraction of a fetus and its membranes.

5. The act of exerting one's strength or limbs.

Neater limbs and freer delivery.

Sir H. Wotton.