swelled the ranks

Verb

swell the ranks (third-person singular simple present swells the ranks, present participle swelling the ranks, simple past swelled the ranks, past participle swelled the ranks or swollen the ranks)

1. To add significant numbers of members (to a group).
   • All through the Empire the unskilled labourer is the one who feels the stress of hard times, when they do come, the most, and it is this class that goes very largely to swell the ranks of the unemployed.1913, Western Australia. Education Department ·, Report, page cxxviii