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Literary notes about swell (AI summary)

In literature, “swell” is a remarkably versatile term that functions as both a vivid descriptor of physical and emotional expansion and as a marker of natural dynamism. It is employed to illustrate tangible growth—whether in the gradual swelling of emotions, as when hearts fill with pride or sorrow ([1], [2]), or in physical manifestations, such as limbs or faces expanding ([3], [4]). At the same time, authors use “swell” to evoke the powerful motion of nature, capturing the rising surge of sea waves against a rock or the rolling buildup of a tide ([5], [6]). In more conversational contexts, “swell” even appears as informal praise, denoting something excellent or pleasing ([7], [8]). This diverse use underscores how the term effectively conveys both the gentle and the overwhelming in literature.
  1. Then the iron-hearted man felt his heart swell in his breast; a flame seemed to rush from his throat to his eyes, he bent his head and wept.
    — from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet
  2. I declare I swell with pride as these august names are transcribed by my pen, and I think in what brilliant company my dear Becky is moving.
    — from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
  3. My wrists and ankles, and the cords of my legs and arms began to swell, burying the rope that bound them into the swollen flesh.
    — from Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
  4. she cries impulsively seizing my hand, and I see her nose beginning to swell.
    — from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
  5. When I closed my eyes, I heard a gale, subsiding at last, bearing upon the house-front like a settling swell upon a rock-base.
    — from Villette by Charlotte Brontë
  6. We were at anchor here, near the coast, exposed to the swell of the sea.
    — from A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama 1497-1499
  7. He laughed, greatly amused, and answered: “All right, we will go to-night to a very swell place where I am well known.”
    — from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant
  8. That's a swell piece of goods, all wool—' Like hell!
    — from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis

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