- present participle of swell.
noun
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the act of expansion or inflation
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the state of being or becoming swollen
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a swollen or inflated part or area
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an abnormal enlargement of a bodily structure or part, esp as the result of injury
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of swelling
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; swell + -ing 1
Vocabulary lists containing swelling
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The main symptoms of breast cancer in women may include a lump, or swelling in your breast, chest or armpit, the NHS website says, external.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Among the highlights for Wall Street analysts: a swelling backlog, growing customer diversification and rising prices.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
Growth since April’s weakness has been concentrated in the private sector, swelling by roughly 146,000 in three months.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The yen had weakened because of the gap between Japanese and US interest rates, high oil prices and concerns about Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's spending plans further swelling Japan's enormous debts.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
In response, the soldiers growled in unison, the sound swelling into a snarl.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
Andrea claims Mr Scott told her the swellings were caused by an insect bite and says she was encouraged to have further treatments.
From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2025
Many infected rabbits display a strange form of myxomatosis, developing massive swellings on their eyes and ears.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2022
“One female refugee got swellings on her arms and legs and is unable to stand or walk, while one man, maybe because they’ve been at sea for too long, is a bit malnourished,” Nurul said.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 6, 2022
"One female refugee got swellings on her arms and legs and is unable to stand or walk, while one man, maybe because they've been at sea for too long, is a bit malnourished," Nurul said.
From Reuters ● Mar. 6, 2022
When everyone had taken a swig of antidote and the various swellings had subsided, Snape swept over to Goyle’s cauldron and scooped out the twisted black remains of the firework.
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
