swell
swel
- n the undulating movement of the surface of the open sea
- n a rounded elevation (especially one on an ocean floor)
- n a crescendo followed by a decrescendo
- n a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance
- v increase in size, magnitude, number, or intensity
The music swelled to a crescendo - v become filled with pride, arrogance, or anger
The mother was swelling with importance when she spoke of her son - v expand abnormally
The bellies of the starving children are swelling - v come up (as of feelings and thoughts, or other ephemeral things)
Smoke swelled from it - v come up, as of a liquid
- v cause to become swollen
The water swells the wood - s very good
- What a swell party this is.
- While both his decision-making role and public presence have recently begun to swell, Fiat chairman Luca di Montezemolo and ceo Sergio Marchionne are still largely in charge.
- Though Berry Wall was born in Manhattan (1861), where he was a society swell in the '80s and '90s, he spent most of his later life in France.