swell

«swell» in Mova's school dictionary: To get bigger, rounder or fuller, often because of… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (swell, swells, swelled, swollen or swelled, swelling); noun (a swell — waves; swelling); adjective (swell — old-fashioned US slang: great)

meaning for a pupil

1) To get bigger, rounder or fuller, often because of injury, water or air (My ankle swelled up). tree →

2) To grow in number, size, loudness or strength (The crowd swelled). tree →

3) A swell: the long, smooth rise and fall of waves in the sea. tree →

4) (old-fashioned American) Excellent, very nice (That's swell!). tree →

5) A feeling growing strong inside you (a swell of pride). tree →

sense in the lessons

In first aid: an injury like a sprain or a bee sting can make the body swell; rest, ice, compression and raising it help reduce swelling. In science, wood and seeds swell when they take in water; rivers swell after heavy rain and can flood. In beach safety, a big swell means large waves and dangerous currents — listen to lifeguards. Phrases: swell up, swollen ankle, ocean swell, swell with pride.

examples

• My finger swelled up after the bee sting. tree →
• Put ice on your ankle to stop it swelling. tree →
• The river swelled after days of heavy rain. tree →
• Dried beans swell when you soak them in water. tree →
• There's a big swell today, so the beach is closed. tree →
• Her heart swelled with pride when she won. tree →
• «Gee, that's swell!» said the boy in the old film. tree →
• Affrighted though she was, Wendy swelled with pride. tree →

note

Past participle: «swollen» (my eye is swollen) is more common as an adjective; «swelled» is also used. Noun: swelling (a bump on the body). If swelling comes with trouble breathing, get emergency help — it may be an allergic reaction.

In the corpora

• An onion is a bulb whose layers are swollen leaves storing food for next year's growth.
• Some honeypot ant workers swell with sweet liquid and hang from the nest roof like living jars, storing food for hard times.
• Not everything under the ground is a root, though: a potato is a swollen stem, and its eyes are buds.
• Swell sharks gulp water to puff themselves up and wedge into rock cracks so a predator cannot pull them out.
• Potatoes are swollen underground stems that store food, and the eyes on a potato are buds that can grow into new plants.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «swell» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.