noun
- An abnormal protuberance or localized enlargement.
- Something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings.
- usage: "the gun in his pocket made an obvious bulge"; "the hump of a camel"; "he stood on the rocky prominence"; "the occipital protuberance was well developed"; "the bony excrescence between its horns"
- synonyms: bulge, bump, hump, gibbosity, gibbousness, jut, prominence, protuberance, protrusion, extrusion, excrescence
- The increase in volume of certain substances when they are heated (often accompanied by release of water.
- synonyms: intumescence, intumescency
verb
- Increase in size, magnitude, number, or intensity.
- usage: "The music swelled to a crescendo"
- synonyms: swell
- Become filled with pride, arrogance, or anger.
- usage: "The mother was swelling with importance when she spoke of her son"
- Expand abnormally.
- usage: "The bellies of the starving children are swelling"
- Come up (as of feelings and thoughts, or other ephemeral things. )
- usage: "Strong emotions welled up"; "Smoke swelled from it"
- Come up, as of a liquid.
- usage: "Tears well in her eyes"; "the currents well up"
- Cause to become swollen.
- usage: "The water swells the wood"
- synonyms: swell
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). swelling. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/swelling/definitions/1246447 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "swelling" http://smartdefine.org/swelling/definitions/1246447 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, swelling, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/swelling/definitions/1246447>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "swelling" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/swelling/definitions/1246447> |