to swell up
28
3.9
- phrasal verb
- /swɛl ʌp/
:
hincharse
- The piercing got infected and her tongue swelled up so much that she couldn't even breathe anymore.
If I overdo it, if I, if I, if I do stone with vibration, my arm swells up.
- If I overdo it, if I, if I, if I do stone with vibration, my arm swells up.
- So when you think of inflammation in this sort of normal acute state, it's if somebody sporting injury and their knee swells up, right?
- And then knee was swallowed up, ankle was swelled up and shins were flared, blisters everywhere.
- She has to have and, and more awareness of her G spot because the G spot that that area swells up and that's where the liquids are made.
Examples
-
She'll start to swell up around the ankles, won't she?
Fiction book (1996) -
The guy ate a granola bar in practice one time and his whole face swelled up like a balloon.
-
You ever seen a head all swelled up?
-
The whole side of my face swelled up from the poison.
Fiction book (1990) -
His leg swelled up like a melon.
-
People's throats swell up and they can't catch their breath.
Fiction book (1998) -
- Oh hey remember that time we went to Auntie Jo's and we went into the barn to collect some eggs, and poor Dan's head swelled up like a balloon.
-
After he twisted his ankle, it began to swell up painfully.
-
Her bee sting caused her arm to swell up for hours.
-
The bruised area on his leg would swell up if he didn't ice it immediately.
Synonyms
117
3.2
To become larger often by pressure or by soaking in water
20
4.1
To swell or make part of the body larger
19
4.9
To become swollen because of gas or fluid
12
8.2
To swell because of pressure inside, for example a stomach or a balloon
7
2.7
To swell or become larger suddenly
5
3.5
To make something larger by filling with air or pride
3
3.7
To stick out in a round shape, like a pocket or balloon
2
7.7
To become swollen as it fills with blood or other fluid
2
4.4
To make something larger or more full, for example by filling it with air
To become swollen because fluid gathers in a part of the body
To grow bigger because of an injury or infection
To swell and become larger when heated or when it soaks up water
Antonyms
How Swollen
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'become larger or rounder' is directly derivable from combining 'swell' (to grow larger) with 'up' (indicating increase/completion or movement to a higher degree). This verb+particle inchoative/completive pattern is common in English (and parallel constructions exist in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily understand the MWE.
Etymology
Swell up comes from the image of swell meaning 'to grow' and up meaning 'to rise' when something fills with fluid or air and becomes round, like an ankle after an injury or dough in the oven. So, swell up means 'to become larger or rounder' because the inside pressure makes it grow.