Swell

How to spell swell

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce swell

What does swell mean?

1. verbTo grow larger, expand, or increase in size, volume, or intensity.
2. nounA long, slow-moving wave or series of waves on the open sea, often without breaking.
3. adjectiveInformal and somewhat dated term meaning excellent, fashionable, or first-rate.

Swell in a sentence

• verb

  A sprained ankle will often swell within minutes.

• noun

  The small boat rocked gently on the ocean swell.

• adjective

  He turned up in a swell new suit for the interview.

• verb

  Heavy rain can make the river swell above its banks.

• noun

  Surfers waited offshore for the next big swell to arrive.

• adjective

  The whole evening turned out to be a swell affair.

Where does swell come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a thoroughly native English word, descending from the Old English verb swellan, which meant to grow larger, to expand, or to be puffed up. It belongs to a wider family of Germanic words, with close relatives in Old Norse svella, Old High German swellan, and modern Dutch zwellen, all carrying the same idea of bulging or rising. Because the root is Germanic rather than borrowed from Latin or French, the spelling stayed short and phonetic, which is one reason the word causes few problems on paper. Over the centuries the verb spread from describing swollen flesh and rising water to abstract growth, such as a swelling chorus of complaint or a population that swells. The nautical noun for a long rolling wave grew out of the same picture of water heaping up, and the breezy nineteenth-century slang sense meaning fashionable or excellent came from the image of a person of swollen, showy importance.

How the word is built

• swell (from Old English swellan: to grow larger, expand)