Definitions for swell
swɛlswell

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. swell, crestless wavenoun

   the undulating movement of the surface of the open sea

2. swellnoun

   a rounded elevation (especially one on an ocean floor)

3. swellnoun

   a crescendo followed by a decrescendo

4. dandy, dude, fop, gallant, sheik, beau, swell, fashion plate, clotheshorseadjective

   a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance

5. bang-up, bully, corking, cracking, dandy, great, groovy, keen, neat, nifty, not bad(p), peachy, slap-up, swell, smashingverb

   very good

   "he did a bully job"; "a neat sports car"; "had a great time at the party"; "you look simply smashing"

6. swellverb

   increase in size, magnitude, number, or intensity

   "The music swelled to a crescendo"

7. swell, puff upverb

   become filled with pride, arrogance, or anger

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

8. swell, swell up, intumesce, tumefy, tumesceverb

   expand abnormally

   "The bellies of the starving children are swelling"

9. well up, swellverb

   come up (as of feelings and thoughts, or other ephemeral things)

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

10. well, swellverb

    come up, as of a liquid

    "Tears well in her eyes"; "the currents well up"

11. swellverb

    cause to become swollen

    "The water swells the wood"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. swellnoun

   A long series of ocean waves, generally produced by wind, and lasting after the wind has ceased.

2. swellnoun

   A gradual crescendo followed by diminuendo.

3. swellnoun

   A device for controlling the volume of a pipe organ.

4. swellnoun

   A division in a pipe organ, usually the largest enclosed division.

5. swellnoun

   A hillock or similar raised area of terrain.

6. swellnoun

   A person who is dressed in a fancy or elegant manner.

7. swellnoun

   A person of high social standing; an important person.

8. swellverb

   To become bigger, especially due to being engorged.

9. swellverb

   To cause to become bigger.

10. swelladjective

    Excellent.

11. Etymology: From swellen, from swellan, from swellanan, of unknown origin. Cognate with zwellen, schwellen, svälla.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Swellverb

   to grow larger; to dilate or extend the exterior surface or dimensions, by matter added within, or by expansion of the inclosed substance; as, the legs swell in dropsy; a bruised part swells; a bladder swells by inflation

2. Swellverb

   to increase in size or extent by any addition; to increase in volume or force; as, a river swells, and overflows its banks; sounds swell or diminish

3. Swellverb

   to rise or be driven into waves or billows; to heave; as, in tempest, the ocean swells into waves

4. Swellverb

   to be puffed up or bloated; as, to swell with pride

5. Swellverb

   to be inflated; to belly; as, the sails swell

6. Swellverb

   to be turgid, bombastic, or extravagant; as, swelling words; a swelling style

7. Swellverb

   to protuberate; to bulge out; as, a cask swells in the middle

8. Swellverb

   to be elated; to rise arrogantly

9. Swellverb

   to grow upon the view; to become larger; to expand

10. Swellverb

    to become larger in amount; as, many little debts added, swell to a great amount

11. Swellverb

    to act in a pompous, ostentatious, or arrogant manner; to strut; to look big

12. Swellverb

    to increase the size, bulk, or dimensions of; to cause to rise, dilate, or increase; as, rains and dissolving snow swell the rivers in spring; immigration swells the population

13. Swellverb

    to aggravate; to heighten

14. Swellverb

    to raise to arrogance; to puff up; to inflate; as, to be swelled with pride or haughtiness

15. Swellverb

    to augment gradually in force or loudness, as the sound of a note

16. Swellnoun

    the act of swelling

17. Swellnoun

    gradual increase

18. Swellnoun

    increase or augmentation in bulk; protuberance

19. Swellnoun

    increase in height; elevation; rise

20. Swellnoun

    increase of force, intensity, or volume of sound

21. Swellnoun

    increase of power in style, or of rhetorical force

22. Swellnoun

    a gradual ascent, or rounded elevation, of land; as, an extensive plain abounding with little swells

23. Swellnoun

    a wave, or billow; especially, a succession of large waves; the roll of the sea after a storm; as, a heavy swell sets into the harbor

24. Swellnoun

    a gradual increase and decrease of the volume of sound; the crescendo and diminuendo combined; -- generally indicated by the sign

25. Swellnoun

    a showy, dashing person; a dandy

26. Swelladjective

    having the characteristics of a person of rank and importance; showy; dandified; distinguished; as, a swell person; a swell neighborhood

27. Etymology: [AS. swellan; akin to D. zwellen, OS. & OHG. swellan, G. schwellen, Icel. svella, Sw. svlla.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Swell

   Swell is an indie rock band formed in San Francisco in 1989 when David Freel and Sean Kirkpatrick decided to record an album.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Swell

   swel, v.i. to grow larger: to expand: to rise into waves: to heave: to be inflated: to bulge out: to grow louder: to be bombastic, to strut: to become elated, arrogant, or angry: to grow upon the view: to grow more violent: to grow louder, as a note.—v.t. to increase the size of: to aggravate: to increase the sound of: to raise to arrogance: to augment the sound of:—pa.p. swelled or swollen (swōln).—n. act of swelling: a bulge or protuberance: increase in size: an increase and a succeeding decrease in the volume of a tone: a gradual rise of ground: a wave or billow or succession of them in one direction, as after a storm: a distinct set of pipes in an organ, enclosed in a case furnished with movable shutters which being more or less opened by means of a pedal, produce a swell of sound: (geol.) an upward protrusion of strata from whose central region the beds dip quaquaversally at a low angle: a strutting foppish fellow, a dandy.—adj. fashionable.—n. Swell′dom, the fashionable world generally.—adj. Swell′ing (B.), inflated, proud, haughty.—n. protuberance: a tumour: a rising, as of passion: (B.) inflation by pride.—adj. Swell′ish, foppish, dandified.—ns. Swell′-mob, well-dressed pickpockets collectively; Swell′-mobs′man, a well-dressed pickpocket. [A.S. swellan; Ger. schwellen.]

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. swell

   Ocean waves that have traveled out of their fetch. Swell characteristically exhibits a more regular and longer period and has flatter crests than waves within their fetch.

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. swell

   A rolling wave which seldom breaks unless it meets resistance, generally denoting a continuous heaving, which remains for some time after the wind which caused it has subsided. Also, the gradual thickening of the muzzle of a gun, hounds of a mast, &c.

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. swell

   Song lyrics by swell -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by swell on the Lyrics.com website.

Etymology and Origins(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Swell

   Slang for one of the upper classes, no doubt suggested by the phrase: “The bloated aristocracy.” Also applied to an overdressed person puffed out with the idea of his own importance.

Matched Categories

1. • Arise
   • Behave
   • Crescendo
   • Grow
   • Increase
   • Natural Elevation
   • Rise
   • Wave

British National Corpus

1. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'swell' in Verbs Frequency: #1088

Anagrams for swell »

1. wells, Wells

2. Wells

How to pronounce swell?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say swell in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of swell in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of swell in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of swell in a Sentence

1. Abraham Lincoln:

   We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

2. Bhavya Reddy:

   Once he started to recover( from Covid) his face started to swell, when the swelling did not reduce,( doctors) told us to get the injection.

3. Anuj Somany:

   Netizens, in general, do not even RTs/Like/Comment/Share a person's points/picture on social media without seeing some sort of profit/benefit coming from the host or the post, so from where and how a crowd of citizens swell up in march/protest/agitation/congregation either in support or against someone and that too wearing same type of caps and holding flags

4. Barbara Ehrenreich:

   If men were equally at risk from this condition -- if they knew their bellies might swell as if they were suffering from end-stage cirrhosis, that they would have to go nearly a year without a stiff drink, a cigarette, or even an aspirin, that they would be subject to fainting spells and unable to fight their way onto commuter trains -- then I am sure that pregnancy would be classified as a sexually transmitted disease and abortions would be no more controversial than emergency appendectomies.

5. Washington Irving:

   The great British Library --an immense collection of volumes of all ages and languages, many of which are now forgotten, and most of which are seldom read: one of these sequestered pools of obsolete literature to which modern authors repair, and draw buckets full of classic lore, or pure English, undefiled wherewith to swell their own scanty rills of thought.

Popularity rank by frequency of use