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Swelling   /swˈɛlɪŋ/   Listen
noun
Swelling  n.  
1.
The act of that which swells; as, the swelling of rivers in spring; the swelling of the breast with pride. "Rise to the swelling of the voiceless sea."
2.
A protuberance; a prominence; especially (Med.), An unnatural prominence or protuberance; as, a scrofulous swelling. "The superficies of such plates are not even, but have many cavities and swellings."


verb
Swell  v. t.  (past swelled; past part. swollen; pres. part. swelling)  
1.
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. "(The Church) swells her high, heart-cheering tone."
2.
To aggravate; to heighten. "It is low ebb with his accuser when such peccadilloes are put to swell the charge."
3.
To raise to arrogance; to puff up; to inflate; as, to be swelled with pride or haughtiness.
4.
(Mus.) To augment gradually in force or loudness, as the sound of a note.


Swell  v. i.  (past swelled; past part. swollen; pres. part. swelling)  
1.
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.
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.
To rise or be driven into waves or billows; to heave; as, in tempest, the ocean swells into waves.
4.
To be puffed up or bloated; as, to swell with pride. "You swell at the tartan, as the bull is said to do at scarlet."
5.
To be inflated; to belly; as, the sails swell.
6.
To be turgid, bombastic, or extravagant; as, swelling words; a swelling style.
7.
To protuberate; to bulge out; as, a cask swells in the middle.
8.
To be elated; to rise arrogantly. "Your equal mind yet swells not into state."
9.
To grow upon the view; to become larger; to expand. "Monarchs to behold the swelling scene!"
10.
To become larger in amount; as, many little debts added, swell to a great amount.
11.
To act in a pompous, ostentatious, or arrogant manner; to strut; to look big. "Here he comes, swelling like a turkey cock."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Swelling" Quotes from Famous Books



... of the disease and its peculiarities, as given by Farquhar himself, I could only make out, by studying a little medical book I had with me, that "a swelling of the legs, and sometimes of the body, might result from either heart, liver, or kidney disease." But I did not know to what to ascribe the disease, unless it was to elephantiasis—a disease most common in Zanzibar; ...
— How I Found Livingstone • Sir Henry M. Stanley
... the Latins turn and fly, Their shields behind them. On the Trojans go, Asilas first. And now the gates are nigh; Once more, with shouts, the Latins face the foe; These, scared in turn, the slackened reins forego. So shifts the fight, as on the winding strand The swelling ocean, with alternate flow, Foams on the rocks, and curls along the sand, Now sucks the shingle back, and, ...
— The Aeneid of Virgil - Translated into English Verse by E. Fairfax Taylor • Virgil
... joy seemed to relieve Albinia's swelling heart, too full for the expression of thankfulness, and the excitement was too much even for the boy, for he burst into passionate sobs when forbidden to get up and ...
— The Young Step-Mother • Charlotte M. Yonge
... peace. We support the Mujahidin. There can be no settlement unless all Soviet troops are removed and the Afghan people are allowed genuine self-determination. I have made my views on this matter known to Mr. Gorbachev. But not just Nicaragua or Afghanistan—yes, everywhere we see a swelling freedom tide across the world: freedom fighters rising up in Cambodia and Angola, fighting and dying for the same democratic liberties we hold sacred. Their cause is ...
— State of the Union Addresses of Ronald Reagan • Ronald Reagan
... disappeared now from the side of the road; long, swelling, wild fields lay on the slopes of the hillside, broken only by solitary clumps of bushes—fields deserted of life, broad resting-places for the moonlight, which illumined the farthest edge of the scene, although the moon itself was hidden by the crest of a hill. And as ...
— McClure's Magazine, Vol. XXXI, No. 3, July 1908. • Various


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