from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
intumesce
v 1: move upwards in bubbles, as from the effect of heating;
also used metaphorically; "Gases bubbled up from the
earth"; "Marx's ideas have bubbled up in many places in
Latin America" [syn: {bubble up}, {intumesce}]
2: expand abnormally; "The bellies of the starving children are
swelling" [syn: {swell}, {swell up}, {intumesce}, {tumefy},
{tumesce}]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Intumesce \In`tu*mesce"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Intumesced}; p.
pr. & vb. n. {Intumescing}.] [L. intumescere; pref. in- in +
tumescere to swell up, incho. fr. tumere to swell. See
{Tumid}.]
To enlarge or expand with heat; to swell; specifically, to
swell up or bubble up under the action of heat, as before the
blowpipe.
[1913 Webster]
In a higher heat, it intumesces, and melts into a
yellowish black mass. --Kirwan.
[1913 Webster]