Meaning

9 senses

  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.

  2. (transitive)To cause to become bigger.

    Rains and dissolving snow swell the rivers in spring.

    schwellen, anschwellen, anschwellen lassen

    раздува́тьсяrazduvátʹsja, набуха́тьnabuxátʹ, увели́чиватьсяuvelíčivatʹsja

    cause to become swollen

  3. (intransitive)To grow gradually in force or loudness.

    The organ music swelled.

    anschwellen

  4. (transitive)To cause to grow gradually in force or loudness.

  5. (transitive)To raise to arrogance; to puff up; to inflate.

    to be swelled with pride or haughtiness

    aufplustern

  6. (intransitive)To be raised to arrogance.

    aufblasen

    become filled with pride, arrogance, or anger

  7. To be elated; to rise arrogantly.

  8. To be turgid, bombastic, or extravagant.

    swelling words a swelling style

    geschwollen

  9. To protuberate; to bulge out.

    A cask swells in the middle.

    anschwellen, aufwölben, ausbauchen

Examples

200 sentences

  1. You're a swell guy, Tom.

    Ти класний хлопчина, Томе. — deniko

    ruТы стильный парень, Том. — fjay69

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. My hands and legs are swollen.

    deMeine Hände und meine Füsse sind angeschwollen. — Tamy

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. My feet are a little swollen.

    ruМои ступни немного распухли. — odexed

    deMeine Füße sind ein bisschen geschwollen. — futuro

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. The toothache made his face swell up.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. Tom twisted his ankle and it swelled up.

    ruТом подвернул лодыжку, и она опухла. — odexed

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

8 languages
Русский
By meaning 1
intransitive: to become bigger, especially due to being engorged:
Deutsch
By meaning 6
intransitive: to become bigger, especially due to being engorged:
to cause to become bigger:
to raise to arrogance:
to be raised to arrogance:
to be turgid, bombastic, or extravagant:
to protuberate; to bulge out:

Origin

From Middle English swellen, from Old English swellan (“to swell”), from Proto-West German

From Middle English swellen, from Old English swellan (“to swell”), from Proto-West Germanic *swellan, from Proto-Germanic *swellaną (“to swell”), of unknown origin.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

swells, swelling, swelled, swollen
Base formswell · to swell
3rd person singularswells
Present participleswelling
Past simpleswelled
Past participleswollen / swelled

irregular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyswell
he, she, itswells

Past simpleLesson

all personsswelled

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave swollen
he, she, ithas swollen

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill swell

Phrasal verbs

2 phrasal verbs

Synonyms

9 synonyms
balloonA2distend
Close in meaning

Word family

17 related words
Relatedswelling
Derivedoutswelloverswellpreswellreswellswellabilityswellableswellageswellfishswellheadswell hellswell outswellsharkswelltoadswell upswellyunswell

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
sweetheartA2sweetiesweetlysweetnessswelterswerve

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

swell — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto