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swell up

B1 neutral inseparable intransitive
In simple words

To get bigger and puffy, like when you hurt yourself and the injured spot gets large and sore.

Literal meaning: To swell in an upward direction — to grow larger, often becoming raised above the normal surface.

Meanings

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."

Grammar: inseparable
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."

Grammar: 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."

Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes

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.

Commonly used with

ankle eye knee face glands pride

Forms

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

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Synonyms

become inflamed balloon up puff up bloat distend

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