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.
- 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - That's a swell piece of goods, all wool—' Like hell!
— from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis