swell

1. 1.

   the undulating movement of the surface of the open sea

   Synonymscrestless wave

   Broaderwave

   Narrowerground swell
2. 2.

   a rounded elevation (especially one on an ocean floor)

   Broadernatural elevation
3. 3.

   a crescendo followed by a decrescendo

   Broadercrescendo
4. 4.

   a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance

   Synonymsdandydudefopgallantsheikbeaufashion plateclotheshorse

   Broaderman

   Narrowercoxcomb

1. 1.

   very good

   “he did a bully job”

   “a neat sports car”

   “had a great time at the party”

   “you look simply smashing”

   “we had a grand old time”

   Synonymsbang-upbullycorkingcrackingdandygreatgroovykeenneatniftynot badpeachyslap-upsmashing

   Similargood

   colloquialism

Other forms of swell

plural

swells·

past tense or participle

swollen

present participle

swelling·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about swell

What does swell mean?

swell means "increase in size, magnitude, number, or intensity". That is the primary sense; the word has 11 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in swell?

swell has 1 syllable: swell. In IPA it is /ˈswɛl/.

What is another word for swell?

Close synonyms include puff up, swell up, intumesce, tumefy, tumesce. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is swell a common word?

swell is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with swell?

1 word rhymes with swell. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.