swells

Verb

swell (third-person singular simple present swells, present participle swelling, simple past swelled or (dialectal) swole or (dialectal) swoll, past participle swollen or swelled)

1. (intransitive) To become larger, fuller, or rounder, or expand in size or shape, usually as a result of pressure from within.
   • My ankles had swelled in the heat.

   Synonyms:

   balloon

2. (transitive) To cause to become bigger.
   • Rains and dissolving snow swell the rivers in spring.

   Synonyms:

   distend

3. (intransitive) To grow gradually in force or loudness.
   • The organ music swelled.
4. (transitive) To cause to grow gradually in force or loudness.
   • It commenced with a slow crescendo, so irresistibly lugubrious that two of our dogs at once raised their heads and swelled their voices into a responsive tremolo, which may have been heard and appreciated by their distant relatives.1880, Felix Leopold Oswald, Summerland Sketches, page 57
5. (transitive) To raise to arrogance; to puff up; to inflate.
   • to be swelled with pride or haughtiness
6. (intransitive) To be raised to arrogance.
   • Why, here he comes, swelling like a turkey-cock.1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

See all 24 meanings of swell