to swell up
3
3.2
- phrasal verb
- /swɛl ʌp/
:
hincharse (parte del cuerpo/objeto)
- My throat often feels like it's closing up, and my tongue and lips swelled up for 2 days.
- swell up with anger
- swell up inside
You can kill them because you you damage the pumps in the membrane so that they swell up and pop.
- You can kill them because you you damage the pumps in the membrane so that they swell up and pop.
- So think about this when you, let's say you sprain your wrist, OK, and it gets, it swells up.
- A few weeks ago his eyes swelled up and my kid thought he was blind in one eye and I said OK, just give him a patch, give him a little cane, he'll be OK.
- And I remember my entire nose swelled up and everybody would just be like this, just staring as they're talking to me.
- And I started telling the story and I, I couldn't, I swelled up and I, I couldn't, I couldn't get the words out.
- A couple of weeks later he'd started feeling ill and he just started swelling up his arm and he was just really getting I'll.
Examples
-
Why, I can hardly wait to swell up like a balloon!
Fiction book (1993) -
Now, this time take a deep breath... and swell up your belly.
-
Remember those tears that swelled up in your eyes?
Blog text (1) -
And then my cheeks started to swell up right under my eye as well.
-
I was on the floor and my my back just swelled up from the bee sting.
-
Even just thinking of that feeling as I sat at my desk, tears started to swell up in my eyes and I got chills again.
Blog text (1) -
First he swelled up, then he shriveled up, then he disappeared.
Fiction book (1995) -
Again, the mysterious chords of music swell up as Jeffrey walks through the night.
Fiction book (1997) -
So my dad walks to the hospital and when he gets there, we find out that he's in intensive care and his brain swelled up and then he went into a coma.
-
After the bee sting, her arm began to swell up and turn red.
Synonyms
117
3.2
To become larger often by pressure or by soaking in water
21
4.7
To increase quickly in size or amount
20
4.1
To swell or make part of the body larger
19
4.9
To become swollen because of gas or fluid
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 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 is also used for feelings: think of swell meaning 'to grow' and up meaning 'to rise', like a wave or balloon getting bigger inside you as the emotion increases. So when a feeling swells up, it means 'to grow stronger' or 'to rise' inside someone.