from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Swell \Swell\, n.
1. The act of swelling.
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2. Gradual increase. Specifically:
(a) Increase or augmentation in bulk; protuberance.
(b) Increase in height; elevation; rise.
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Little River affords navigation during a swell
to within three miles of the Miami. --Jefferson.
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(c) Increase of force, intensity, or volume of sound.
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Music arose with its voluptuous swell. --Byron.
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(d) Increase of power in style, or of rhetorical force.
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The swell and subsidence of his periods.
--Landor.
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3. A gradual ascent, or rounded elevation, of land; as, an
extensive plain abounding with little swells.
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4. A wave, or billow; especially, a succession of large
waves; the roll of the sea after a storm; as, a heavy
swell sets into the harbor.
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The swell
Of the long waves that roll in yonder bay.
--Tennyson.
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The gigantic swells and billows of the snow.
--Hawthorne.
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5. (Mus.) A gradual increase and decrease of the volume of
sound; the crescendo and diminuendo combined; -- generally
indicated by the sign.
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6. A showy, dashing person; a dandy. [Slang]
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{Ground swell}. See under {Ground}.
{Organ swell} (Mus.), a certain number of pipes inclosed in a
box, the uncovering of which by means of a pedal produces
increased sound.
{Swell shark} (Zool.), a small shark ({Scyllium ventricosum})
of the west coast of North America, which takes in air
when caught, and swells up like a swellfish.
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