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Added 9 October 2026

swell

/swɛl/ verb

In Latin: tumeō, intumēscō, turgescō Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about swell at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

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.

noun

The act of swelling; increase in size.
A bulge or protuberance.
Increase of power in style, or of rhetorical force.

adjective

Fashionable, like a swell or dandy.
Excellent.

adverb

Very well.

Origin

From Middle English swellen, from Old English swellan (“to swell”), from Proto-West Germanic *swellan, from Proto-Germanic *swellaną (“to swell”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Saterland Frisian swälle (“to swell”), West Frisian swolle (“to swell”), Dutch zwellen (“to swell”), Low German swellen (“to swell”), German schwellen (“to swell”), Swedish svälla (“to swell”), Icelandic svella. The adjective may derive from the noun.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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