How to Use swell in a Sentence

swell

1 of 3 verb
  • Heavy rains swelled the river.
  • The population has swelled in recent years.
  • The economy is swelling at an annual rate of five percent.
  • Her broken ankle swelled badly.
  • Immigrants have swelled the population.
  • Her toe swells to twice its size.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 20 Jan. 2026
  • That can lead to swelling in the legs.
    — Kinsey Crowley, USA Today, 27 Oct. 2025
  • That can lead to swelling in the legs.
    — Jenna Prestininzi, Freep.com, 28 Oct. 2025
  • But the fire in the red brick church house had swelled.
    — Holly Yan, CNN Money, 29 Sep. 2025
  • The guilt swells and swells while the sweater sits and sits.
    — Liana Satenstein, Vogue, 8 May 2026
  • Her eyes were swollen from crying so much.
    — Mike Valerio, CNN Money, 19 Apr. 2026
  • Ice the area to reduce swelling.
    — Eva Flowe may 8, Charlotte Observer, 8 May 2026
  • Sleeping in a seat has made his legs swell up.
    — Quil Lawrence, NPR, 25 June 2026
  • Check for firm tubers and swelling eyes in the dahlias.
    — Erica Browne Grivas, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Oct. 2025
  • Soon the campaign swelled statewide.
    — Mary Beth Sheridan, CNN Money, 17 May 2026
  • When the epiglottis swells, a kid can’t breathe.
    — Helen Branswell, STAT, 2 Mar. 2026
  • This caused the other side of her head to swell and bleed.
    — Escher Walcott, PEOPLE, 4 June 2026
  • Irene makes an evil smile and heads out as the music swells.
    — Jordan Hoffman, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Mar. 2026
  • When salt levels in your blood take a plunge, your cells swell up.
    — Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 2 July 2026
  • My calves and thighs often throbbed, my waist ached and my knees swelled.
    — Literary Hub, 8 June 2026
  • Soon, the margin swelled to 24.
    — Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Jan. 2026
  • My throat kind of swells on the inside sometimes.
    — Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 2 Apr. 2026
  • My heart swells with happiness for you two.
    — Ashlyn Robinette, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2025
  • My heart swells with happiness for you two.
    — Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Sep. 2025
  • Remove the burlap when the buds begin to swell.
    — Marie Iannotti, The Spruce, 29 May 2026
  • Every time the men performed it, the crowds swelled.
    — Literary Hub, 16 Mar. 2026
  • My nipples were bleeding and my breasts swollen.
    — Ann Kellams, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Strings swell around her as her voice lifts heavenward at the end.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 24 June 2026
  • This will make your heart swell and radiate.
    — Kyle Thomas, PEOPLE, 14 Sep. 2025
  • Their ranks swelled to hundreds or even thousands.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2026

swell

2 of 3 noun
  • The storm has brought high winds and heavy swells along the coast.
  • The only swell in the seas up ahead?
    — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 26 Apr. 2026
  • Ten-foot swells rose up and sent our boat reeling.
    — Martin Suarez, Rolling Stone, 13 Sep. 2025
  • The swell spanned the width of the street and stretched about 25 feet.
    — Adrienne Roberts, Detroit Free Press, 16 June 2023
  • Like the swell of a wave drawn irresistibly to the shore.
    — Taran Khan, The Dial, 24 Mar. 2026
  • See the dream sail in on moonlit waves and feel the swell of its prow in your blood.
    — Literary Hub, 19 June 2026
  • Just offshore, 50 surfers caught swells.
    — Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2026
  • One side, with the swell of a breast and a long skirt, appears female.
    — Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2023
  • There is a high risk of rip currents and rough surf for the rest of the week, thanks to large swells.
    — Garfield Hylton, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 Aug. 2025
  • Most were lucky to find a swell of support in the comments section.
    — Jane Thier, Fortune, 18 June 2022
  • The surf that showed up is one of the biggest tropical swells of the year.
    — Laylan Connelly, Oc Register, 29 Sep. 2025
  • The incoming swell could be strong enough to cause new damage to the pier.
    — Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Jan. 2024
  • The greatest threat of those swells are to beaches that face the southwest.
    — Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 19 June 2026
  • The stats are startling to Chen, who is bracing for a swell of need there.
    — Parija Kavilanz, CNN, 25 Oct. 2023
  • Last week’s swell was said to be the biggest summertime swell in two decades.
    — Laylan Connelly, Oc Register, 18 June 2026
  • Because the swell will keep coming either way.
    — John Winsor, Forbes.com, 20 Jan. 2026
  • Erin is far enough off shore that its waves have a long time to roll in, known as a groundswell instead of a wind swell.
    — Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 19 Aug. 2025
  • But the swell of the score told us we were supposed to like that Andy left Paris.
    — Megan Angelo, Glamour, 11 Sep. 2025
  • No wonder most mothers feel a swell of panic come May.
    — Abby McCloskey, Twin Cities, 4 June 2026
  • The resulting swell of feeling is earned.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Beneath the pulped swell of winter citrus or a sharp draw of winter air.
    — Abbie Kiefer, The Atlantic, 16 Nov. 2025
  • Much of the time, what each uncovers is the shadowy crooks and swells of the other.
    — Audrey Wollen, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2023
  • As the crowds thickened, police tried to disperse the swell of people with tear gas.
    — Cora Engelbrecht, New Yorker, 22 Jan. 2026
  • The beach is known for its monster swells, rolling dunes, and lush vegetation.
    — Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 7 June 2026
  • Another swell came and went, cracking the ice into floes.
    — Ben Taub, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025
  • The clubs that came to compete this year were met with plenty of swell and sunshine throughout the event.
    — Laylan Connelly, Oc Register, 19 May 2026
  • For more than an hour, the dogs fought against the weight of the sled, stalling on the back slope of each swell, then scrambling down the front.
    — Ben Taub, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025
  • Sinner seemed to grow even thinner in the swell of adoration for his rival.
    — Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 20 Aug. 2025
  • The predominant swell hits the north shores in the winter and the south shores in the summer.
    — CBS News, 18 July 2022
  • As the swells grew and the troughs sunk deeper, an ominous feeling settled upon us.
    — Martin Suarez, Rolling Stone, 13 Sep. 2025

swell

3 of 3 adjective
  • That was a swell party.
  • As the desert fog rolls in and out, the grit stones swell and shrink.
    — Zack Savitsky, Quanta Magazine, 12 July 2023
  • Will a new kitchen counter or a swell pair of shoes provide that?
    — Bill Goodykoontz, azcentral, 5 June 2020
  • The great indoors seemed like a swell vantage point for this tilt.
    — Phil Rosenthal, chicagotribune.com, 6 Apr. 2018
  • All was just swell, till everything fell, at the start of last fall.
    — Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2021
  • Her life was always fine, swell, just couldn’t be better, thanks.
    — Jennifer Senior, The Atlantic, 9 Feb. 2022
  • Don’t get me wrong — if crystals and candles work for you, that’s swell.
    — Raven Brunner, PEOPLE, 30 June 2026
  • Sweet, swift, swank, swell, fast as hell, hushed as a chapel, cool as marble, minty fresh.
    — Dan Neil, WSJ, 20 Jan. 2022
  • The site of contact will likely redden and swell like a bee sting.
    — Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 19 Sep. 2023
  • Even so, the ship displaces so much water that a swell rolls along the channel’s side.
    — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, 19 Mar. 2019
  • And many have seen their portfolios swell in recent years as the stock market has boomed.
    — Tami Luhby and Katie Lobosco, CNN, 28 Mar. 2022
  • In this remote body of water, huge swell waves build and then ripple across the planet.
    — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, 14 May 2018
  • Naturally, that looks swell when oil prices are over the triple-digit mark.
    — Brett Owens, Forbes, 14 Aug. 2022
  • This is just the latest, and arguably largest, swell in public pressure.
    — Tom Schad, USA TODAY, 7 July 2020
  • Since your feet usually swell throughout the day, your feet will likely be at their largest at night.
    — Lexie Sachs, Good Housekeeping, 4 Dec. 2018
  • The blood vessels swell and become sort of leaky, leading to fluid buildup in the tissue.
    — Marla Broadfoot, Scientific American, 1 Dec. 2023
  • And the fit is also swell—roomy enough for my muscular thighs without looking too droopy.
    — Maverick Li, menshealth.com, 5 May 2023
  • For now, the newborn swell shark, its mother and the other eggs are off-exhibit.
    — Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Aug. 2023
  • Everything seemed to be going swell, in fact, until mid-March.
    — John Wenzel, The Know, 27 July 2020
  • There are certain hints dropped that all might not be as swell as the game's upbeat music, bright colors suggest.
    — Tom Philip, GQ, 19 Oct. 2017
  • Which sounds like a pretty swell deal for a car that would beat every other car around Road Atlanta.
    — Ezra Dyer, Popular Mechanics, 5 Apr. 2019
  • The back of the eye can become flattened, and the nerves that carry visual information from the eye to the brain swell and bend.
    — Rachael Seidler, Discover Magazine, 22 Sep. 2023
  • Natasha Bevard looked at the pile of unopened financial statements and felt a sense of dread swell within her.
    — Alex Horton, Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2023
  • When weather models and buoy data detect a massive swell, big-wave surfers are told the contest is on, and a race to the waves begins.
    — Talya Minsberg, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2023
  • Trump’s description of the current regime in Tehran as a bunch of swell guys was brewed in a heavy-duty vat of wishful thinking.
    — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 16 June 2026
  • The think-pink color scheme, for sure, although Teddy Bear Park, the kids’ play area, is pretty swell.
    — Rick Nelson, Star Tribune, 29 July 2020
  • Uplifted and connected is swell.
    — Mike Lupica, New York Daily News, 8 Jan. 2026
  • The swell direction on Tuesday was about 289 degrees out of the northwest.
    — Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2020
  • Baines was a good player and a swell guy, but not considered Hall-worthy outside of the 312 area code.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 11 Nov. 2019
  • The movement has been a boon to smaller agencies like A3 and Verve and to talent managers, who have seen their client ranks swell.
    — Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 17 Sep. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'swell.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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