swell has definitions from the fields of music,geography
1
[ verb ] increase in size, magnitude, number, or intensity

Examples

"The music swelled to a crescendo"

Related terms

increase

2
[ verb ] become filled with pride, arrogance, or anger

Synonyms

puff_up

Examples

"The mother was swelling with importance when she spoke of her son"

Used in print

(Morley Callaghan, A Passion in Rome....)

Nodding approvingly and swelling with importance , the old lady whispered confidentially .

Related terms

act

3
[ verb ] expand abnormally

Examples

"The bellies of the starving children are swelling"

Used in print

(T. C. McClary, "The Flooded Desert," Argosy,...)

Then he noticed that the dry wood of the wheels had swollen .

(Jesse Hill Ford, Mountains of Gilead....)

You laughed and then your chest swelled and you felt you could cry for a little bit , and then a feeling hit you like a chill in your stomach and the goose_bumps rippled along your arm .

4
[ noun ] the undulating movement of the surface of the open sea

Synonyms

crestless_wave

Used in print

(Stephen Longstreet, Eagles Where I Walk....)

The chevaux_de_frise , those sharp stakes and barriers around the fort at the Battery , pointed to a conflict between the town and sea_power rolling in glassy swells as the tide came_in .

Related terms

wave ground_swell

5
[ noun ] (geography) a rounded elevation (especially one on an ocean floor)

Used in print

(Peter Field, Rattlesnake Ridge....)

At the first restaurant he sensibly pulled_up to go_in for his dinner , and as a consequence did not see Cobb strike the open range at the mouth of the canyon and head straight across the swells for Antler .

His first glimpse of the ranch_house across the brushy swells told him nothing .

Related terms

natural_elevation

6
[ verb ] come up, as of liquids

Synonyms

well

Examples

: "Tears well in her eyes"

Related terms

surface

7
[ verb ] as of feelings and thoughts, or other ephemeral things

Synonyms

well_up

Examples

"Strong emotions welled up" "Smoke swelled from it"

Related terms

originate

8
[ noun ] (music) a crescendo followed by a decrescendo

Related terms

crescendo

9
[ adjective ] (informal) very good

Examples

"a bully pulpit" "a neat sports car" "had a great time at the party" "you look simply smashing"

Used in print

(John Dos Passos, Midcentury....)

Pat took Eileen and me out to dinner at a swell steak_house and told us with tears in his eyes how happy he was we had come together again .

Related terms

colloquialism good

10
[ verb ] cause to become swollen

Examples

"The water swells the wood"

Related terms

grow bloat tumefy bulge

11
[ noun ] a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance
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