Definition of: swell

(swel) v. swelled, swelled or swol·len, swell·ing v.i.
1. To increase in bulk or dimension, as by inflation with air or by absorption of moisture; dilate; expand.
2. To increase in size, amount, degree, etc.
3. To grow in volume or intensity, as a sound.
4. To rise in waves or swells, as the sea.
5. To bulge; protrude or belly, as a sail.
6. To become puffed up with pride.
7. To grow within one: My anger swells at the sight.
—v.t.
8. To cause to increase in size or bulk.
9. To cause to increase in amount, extent, or degree.
10. To cause to bulge; belly.
11. To puff with pride.
12. Music To sing or play with combined crescendo and diminuendo.
—noun
1. The act, process, or effect of swelling; expansion.
2. The long continuous body of a wave; a billow; hence, a rise of, or undulation in, the land.
3. A bulge or protuberance.
4. Music The union of crescendo and diminuendo; also, the signs (< >) indicating it.
5. A device by which the loudness of a musical instrument, as an organ, may be increased or diminished.
6. Slang A person of the ultrafashionable set. See synonyms under WAVE.
—adjective Slang
1. Of or pertaining to swells or ultrafashionable people; hence, in the height of fashion; smart.
2. First–rate; distinctive. [OE swellan] Synonyms (verb): bulge, dilate, distend, enlarge, expand, increase, inflate. See PUFF. Antonyms: contract, decrease, dwindle, shrink.