swell
[verb]
Synonyms:
- expand, balloon, bloat, bulge, dilate, distend, enlarge, grow, increase, rise
[noun]
Synonyms:
- wave, billow, surge

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Antonyms: shrink
Contrasted words: compress, condense, constrict, contract
Related Idioms: act the grand seigneur, swell it
Related Words: balloon, belly, bloat, blow up, bosom, pouch, pout, overblow, puff

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. swell¹ /swel/ verb (past tense swelled, past participle swollen /ˈswəʊlən $ ˈswoʊ-/)
[Language: Old English; Origin: swellan]

1. SIZE [intransitive] (also swell up) to become larger and rounder than normal – used especially about parts of the body ⇒ swollen:
Her ankle was already starting to swell.
The window frame was swollen shut.

2. AMOUNT/NUMBER [intransitive and transitive] to increase in amount or number
swell to
The crowd swelled to around 10,000.
The river was swollen with melted snow.
swell the ranks/numbers of something (=increase the number of people in a particular situation)
Large numbers of refugees have swollen the ranks of the unemployed.

3. swell with pride/anger etc to feel very proud, angry etc:
His heart swelled with pride as he watched his daughter collect her prize.

4. SHAPE [intransitive and transitive] (also swell out) to curve or make something curve:
The wind swelled the sails.

5. SOUND [intransitive] literary to become louder:
Music swelled around us.

6. SEA [intransitive] to move suddenly and powerfully upwards
⇒ groundswell

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. swell² noun

1. [singular] the way the sea moves up and down:
The sea wasn’t rough, but there was a heavy swell (=large movements of the water).

2. [singular] a situation in which something increases in number or amount
swell of
the growing swell of anti-government feeling
a swell of pride

3. [singular] an increase in sound level, especially in music Synonym : crescendo

4. [singular] the roundness or curved shape of something:
the firm swell of her breasts

5. [countable] old-fashioned a fashionable or important person

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

III. swell³ adjective American English old-fashioned
very good Synonym : great:
You look swell!

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

swell
noun
I. movement of the surface of the sea
ADJ. heavy | gentle, slight | 10-foot, 20-foot, etc. | Atlantic, ocean bobbing up and down like a small boat in a heavy ocean swell
SWELL + VERB break, come/roll in, lift sb/sth, surge up The Atlantic swell surged up under them.
PREP. in a/the ~ The trawler rolled wildly in the heavy swell.
on/with the ~ The boat rose and fell with the swell.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

swell
II. curve in sth
ADJ. firm, gentle, soft, warm
PREP. ~ of the gentle swell of her breasts

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

swell
verb
ADV. badly His sprained ankle had swollen badly.
slightly | up Her feet swelled up after the long walk to the top of the hill.
PREP. with Her legs had swollen with the heat.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲