noun gradual increase.
2. swell ·noun a showy, dashing person; a dandy.
3. swell ·vi to be elated; to rise arrogantly.
4. swell ·noun increase in height; elevation; rise.
5. swell ·noun the act of swelling.
6. swell ·noun increase or augmentation in bulk; protuberance.
7. swell ·noun increase of force, intensity, or volume of sound.
8. swell ·noun increase of power in style, or of rhetorical force.
9. swell ·vi to be puffed up or bloated; as, to swell with pride.
10. swell ·vt to augment gradually in force or loudness, as the sound of a note.
11. swell ·vi to be inflated; to belly; as, the sails swell.
12. swell ·vt to aggravate; to heighten.
13. swell ·vi to grow upon the view; to become larger; to expand.
14. swell ·vi to be turgid, bombastic, or extravagant; as, swelling words; a swelling style.
15. swell ·vi to become larger in amount; as, many little debts added, swell to a great amount.
xvi. swell ·vi to protuberate; to bulge out; as, a cask swells in the middle.
xvii. swell ·noun a gradual ascent, or rounded elevation, of land; as, an extensive plain abounding with little swells.
xviii. swell ·vi to act in a pompous, ostentatious, or arrogant manner; to strut; to look big.
xix. swell ·vt to raise to arrogance; to puff up; to inflate; as, to be swelled with pride or haughtiness.
xx. swell ·vi to rise or be driven into waves or billows; to heave; as, in tempest, the ocean swells into waves.
xxi. swell ·noun a gradual increase and decrease of the volume of sound; the crescendo and diminuendo combined;
generally indicated by the sign.
xxii. swell ·noun 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.
xxiii. swell ·adj having the characteristics of a person of rank and importance; showy; dandified; distinguished; as, a swell person; a swell neighborhood.
xxiv. swell ·vi 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.
xxv. swell ·vt 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.
xxvi. swell ·vi 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.