swell
/swɛl/ verb B1- 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.
- To cause to become bigger. · Rains and dissolving snow swell the rivers in spring.
- To grow gradually in force or loudness. · The organ music swelled.
- To cause to grow gradually in force or loudness.
- To raise to arrogance; to puff up; to inflate. · to be swelled with pride or haughtiness
- To be raised to arrogance.
- To be elated; to rise arrogantly.
- To be turgid, bombastic, or extravagant. · swelling words a swelling style
He/she/it swells · Past swelled · Past participle swollen · -ing form swelling
Verb forms
- Base form
- swell
- He/she/it
- swells
- Past
- swelled
- Past participle
- swollen
- -ing form
- swelling
An irregular verb: learn its past and past participle by heart.
Phrasal verbs and expressions
From the library
The Ass, again playing the fool, fell down on purpose when he reached the stream, but the sponges became swollen with water, greatly increasing his load.
“Who and what are you?” demanded Villefort, turning over a pile of papers, containing information relative to the prisoner, that a police agent had given to him on his entry, and that, already, in an hour’s time, had swelled to voluminous proportions, thanks to the corrupt espionage of which “the accused” is always made the victim.
He found the prisoner in the same position, as if fixed there, his eyes swollen with weeping.
Gradually the balloon swelled out and rose into the air, until finally the basket just touched the ground.
Other matches
Learn swell in real texts
With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.