How to pronounce swell
American English pronunciation
SWEL
- IPA
- /ˈswɛl/
- Syllables
- SWEL (1 syllable)
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What swell means
Most people know swell in its everyday sense. Here's its other meaning.
A long, rolling wave that does not break
In a sentence: Far out at sea, the little boat rose and fell on the gentle swell.
Where it comes from: It is the same word as swell, to grow bigger, from the Old English swellan. No one knows where that older word came from.
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