- 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
-
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:
They can include muscle and joint aches, stiffness and swelling, reduced strength and pins and needles.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Then came the swelling in his left foot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
The queue of requests to connect to the grid has grown even faster, swelling to more than 400,000 megawatts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
"It was only when he started to get a swelling across the bridge of his nose that we thought right, we need to take him to the GP," Lynsey says.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
“I can actually see the thing bulging and swelling before my very eyes!”
From "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl
What stood out in the Johns Hopkins study was the presence of much smaller, repeating swellings in axons examined under conditions intended to preserve their normal structure.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
Many infected rabbits display a strange form of myxomatosis, developing massive swellings on their eyes and ears.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2022
Initial symptoms include fever, headaches, swellings, back pain and aching muscles.
From BBC ● May 26, 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
Matthias gingerly touched the swellings on his face.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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