1 B1 neutral
Of a body part: to become enlarged, inflamed, and sometimes painful due to injury, infection, or a medical condition.
"Her ankle swelled up badly after she twisted it on the stairs."
inseparable
swell up
B1 neutral inseparable intransitive
To become swollen, enlarged, or inflamed, especially a part of the body after injury or illness.
In plain English
To get bigger and puffy, like when you hurt yourself and the injured spot gets large and sore.
What does "swell up" mean?
3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 B2 idiomatic neutral
Of an emotion or feeling: to grow suddenly stronger and more intense.
"His chest swelled up with pride as he watched his daughter walk across the stage."
inseparable
3 B2 neutral
Of a crowd, river, or group: to increase rapidly in size.
"The crowd swelled up to over fifty thousand as the evening progressed."
inseparable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To swell in an upward direction — to grow larger, often becoming raised above the normal surface.
Actually means
To get bigger and puffy, like when you hurt yourself and the injured spot gets large and sore.
Usage tip
Very common in medical and everyday contexts for describing bodily inflammation. Also used figuratively for emotions (e.g., pride, love) or groups growing in size. One of the more transparent phrasal verbs — the meaning is close to the base verb.
Words that pair with "swell up"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
ankle eye knee face glands pride
How to conjugate "swell up"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
swell up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
swells up
he/she/it
Past simple
swelled up
yesterday
Past participle
swelled up
have + pp
-ing form
swelling up
continuous
Hear "swell up" in the wild
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Other ways to say "swell up"
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