swell | noun (n.) The act of swelling. |
| noun (n.) Gradual increase. |
| noun (n.) Increase or augmentation in bulk; protuberance. |
| noun (n.) Increase in height; elevation; rise. |
| noun (n.) Increase of force, intensity, or volume of sound. |
| noun (n.) Increase of power in style, or of rhetorical force. |
| noun (n.) A gradual ascent, or rounded elevation, of land; as, an extensive plain abounding with little swells. |
| noun (n.) A wave, or billow; especially, a succession of large waves; the roll of the sea after a storm; as, a heavy swell sets into the harbor. |
| noun (n.) A gradual increase and decrease of the volume of sound; the crescendo and diminuendo combined; -- generally indicated by the sign. |
| noun (n.) A showy, dashing person; a dandy. |
| adjective (a.) Having the characteristics of a person of rank and importance; showy; dandified; distinguished; as, a swell person; a swell neighborhood. |
| verb (v. i.) To grow larger; to dilate or extend the exterior surface or dimensions, by matter added within, or by expansion of the inclosed substance; as, the legs swell in dropsy; a bruised part swells; a bladder swells by inflation. |
| verb (v. i.) To increase in size or extent by any addition; to increase in volume or force; as, a river swells, and overflows its banks; sounds swell or diminish. |
| verb (v. i.) To rise or be driven into waves or billows; to heave; as, in tempest, the ocean swells into waves. |
| verb (v. i.) To be puffed up or bloated; as, to swell with pride. |
| verb (v. i.) To be inflated; to belly; as, the sails swell. |
| verb (v. i.) To be turgid, bombastic, or extravagant; as, swelling words; a swelling style. |
| verb (v. i.) To protuberate; to bulge out; as, a cask swells in the middle. |
| verb (v. i.) To be elated; to rise arrogantly. |
| verb (v. i.) To grow upon the view; to become larger; to expand. |
| verb (v. i.) To become larger in amount; as, many little debts added, swell to a great amount. |
| verb (v. i.) To act in a pompous, ostentatious, or arrogant manner; to strut; to look big. |
| verb (v. t.) To increase the size, bulk, or dimensions of; to cause to rise, dilate, or increase; as, rains and dissolving snow swell the rivers in spring; immigration swells the population. |
| verb (v. t.) To aggravate; to heighten. |
| verb (v. t.) To raise to arrogance; to puff up; to inflate; as, to be swelled with pride or haughtiness. |
| verb (v. t.) To augment gradually in force or loudness, as the sound of a note. |
well | adjective (a.) Good in condition or circumstances; desirable, either in a natural or moral sense; fortunate; convenient; advantageous; happy; as, it is well for the country that the crops did not fail; it is well that the mistake was discovered. |
| adjective (a.) Being in health; sound in body; not ailing, diseased, or sick; healthy; as, a well man; the patient is perfectly well. |
| adjective (a.) Being in favor; favored; fortunate. |
| adjective (a.) Safe; as, a chip warranted well at a certain day and place. |
| verb (v. i.) An issue of water from the earth; a spring; a fountain. |
| verb (v. i.) A pit or hole sunk into the earth to such a depth as to reach a supply of water, generally of a cylindrical form, and often walled with stone or bricks to prevent the earth from caving in. |
| verb (v. i.) A shaft made in the earth to obtain oil or brine. |
| verb (v. i.) Fig.: A source of supply; fountain; wellspring. |
| verb (v. i.) An inclosure in the middle of a vessel's hold, around the pumps, from the bottom to the lower deck, to preserve the pumps from damage and facilitate their inspection. |
| verb (v. i.) A compartment in the middle of the hold of a fishing vessel, made tight at the sides, but having holes perforated in the bottom to let in water for the preservation of fish alive while they are transported to market. |
| verb (v. i.) A vertical passage in the stern into which an auxiliary screw propeller may be drawn up out of water. |
| verb (v. i.) A depressed space in the after part of the deck; -- often called the cockpit. |
| verb (v. i.) A hole or excavation in the earth, in mining, from which run branches or galleries. |
| verb (v. i.) An opening through the floors of a building, as for a staircase or an elevator; a wellhole. |
| verb (v. i.) The lower part of a furnace, into which the metal falls. |
| verb (v. i.) To issue forth, as water from the earth; to flow; to spring. |
| verb (v. t.) To pour forth, as from a well. |
| verb (v. t.) In a good or proper manner; justly; rightly; not ill or wickedly. |
| verb (v. t.) Suitably to one's condition, to the occasion, or to a proposed end or use; suitably; abundantly; fully; adequately; thoroughly. |
| verb (v. t.) Fully or about; -- used with numbers. |
| verb (v. t.) In such manner as is desirable; so as one could wish; satisfactorily; favorably; advantageously; conveniently. |
| verb (v. t.) Considerably; not a little; far. |
bell | noun (n.) A hollow metallic vessel, usually shaped somewhat like a cup with a flaring mouth, containing a clapper or tongue, and giving forth a ringing sound on being struck. |
| noun (n.) A hollow perforated sphere of metal containing a loose ball which causes it to sound when moved. |
| noun (n.) Anything in the form of a bell, as the cup or corol of a flower. |
| noun (n.) That part of the capital of a column included between the abacus and neck molding; also used for the naked core of nearly cylindrical shape, assumed to exist within the leafage of a capital. |
| noun (n.) The strikes of the bell which mark the time; or the time so designated. |
| verb (v. t.) To put a bell upon; as, to bell the cat. |
| verb (v. t.) To make bell-mouthed; as, to bell a tube. |
| verb (v. i.) To develop bells or corollas; to take the form of a bell; to blossom; as, hops bell. |
| verb (v. t.) To utter by bellowing. |
| verb (v. i.) To call or bellow, as the deer in rutting time; to make a bellowing sound; to roar. |
fell | noun (n.) A skin or hide of a beast with the wool or hair on; a pelt; -- used chiefly in composition, as woolfell. |
| noun (n.) A barren or rocky hill. |
| noun (n.) A wild field; a moor. |
| noun (n.) The finer portions of ore which go through the meshes, when the ore is sorted by sifting. |
| noun (n.) A form of seam joining two pieces of cloth, the edges being folded together and the stitches taken through both thicknesses. |
| noun (n.) The end of a web, formed by the last thread of the weft. |
| adjective (a.) Cruel; barbarous; inhuman; fierce; savage; ravenous. |
| adjective (a.) Eager; earnest; intent. |
| adjective (a.) Gall; anger; melancholy. |
| verb (v. i.) To cause to fall; to prostrate; to bring down or to the ground; to cut down. |
| verb (v. t.) To sew or hem; -- said of seams. |
| (imp.) of Fall |
| () imp. of Fall. |
sell | noun (n.) Self. |
| noun (n.) A sill. |
| noun (n.) A cell; a house. |
| noun (n.) A saddle for a horse. |
| noun (n.) A throne or lofty seat. |
| noun (n.) An imposition; a cheat; a hoax. |
| verb (v. t.) To transfer to another for an equivalent; to give up for a valuable consideration; to dispose of in return for something, especially for money. |
| verb (v. t.) To make a matter of bargain and sale of; to accept a price or reward for, as for a breach of duty, trust, or the like; to betray. |
| verb (v. t.) To impose upon; to trick; to deceive; to make a fool of; to cheat. |
| verb (v. i.) To practice selling commodities. |
| verb (v. i.) To be sold; as, corn sells at a good price. |
shell | noun (n.) A hard outside covering, as of a fruit or an animal. |
| noun (n.) The covering, or outside part, of a nut; as, a hazelnut shell. |
| noun (n.) A pod. |
| noun (n.) The hard covering of an egg. |
| noun (n.) The hard calcareous or chitinous external covering of mollusks, crustaceans, and some other invertebrates. In some mollusks, as the cuttlefishes, it is internal, or concealed by the mantle. Also, the hard covering of some vertebrates, as the armadillo, the tortoise, and the like. |
| noun (n.) Hence, by extension, any mollusks having such a covering. |
| noun (n.) A hollow projectile, of various shapes, adapted for a mortar or a cannon, and containing an explosive substance, ignited with a fuse or by percussion, by means of which the projectile is burst and its fragments scattered. See Bomb. |
| noun (n.) The case which holds the powder, or charge of powder and shot, used with breechloading small arms. |
| noun (n.) Any slight hollow structure; a framework, or exterior structure, regarded as not complete or filled in; as, the shell of a house. |
| noun (n.) A coarse kind of coffin; also, a thin interior coffin inclosed in a more substantial one. |
| noun (n.) An instrument of music, as a lyre, -- the first lyre having been made, it is said, by drawing strings over a tortoise shell. |
| noun (n.) An engraved copper roller used in print works. |
| noun (n.) The husks of cacao seeds, a decoction of which is often used as a substitute for chocolate, cocoa, etc. |
| noun (n.) The outer frame or case of a block within which the sheaves revolve. |
| noun (n.) A light boat the frame of which is covered with thin wood or with paper; as, a racing shell. |
| noun (n.) Something similar in form or action to an ordnance shell; |
| noun (n.) A case or cartridge containing a charge of explosive material, which bursts after having been thrown high into the air. It is often elevated through the agency of a larger firework in which it is contained. |
| noun (n.) A torpedo. |
| noun (n.) A concave rough cast-iron tool in which a convex lens is ground to shape. |
| noun (n.) A gouge bit or shell bit. |
| verb (v. t.) To strip or break off the shell of; to take out of the shell, pod, etc.; as, to shell nuts or pease; to shell oysters. |
| verb (v. t.) To separate the kernels of (an ear of Indian corn, wheat, oats, etc.) from the cob, ear, or husk. |
| verb (v. t.) To throw shells or bombs upon or into; to bombard; as, to shell a town. |
| verb (v. i.) To fall off, as a shell, crust, etc. |
| verb (v. i.) To cast the shell, or exterior covering; to fall out of the pod or husk; as, nuts shell in falling. |
| verb (v. i.) To be disengaged from the ear or husk; as, wheat or rye shells in reaping. |
smell | noun (n.) To perceive by the olfactory nerves, or organs of smell; to have a sensation of, excited through the nasal organs when affected by the appropriate materials or qualities; to obtain the scent of; as, to smell a rose; to smell perfumes. |
| noun (n.) To detect or perceive, as if by the sense of smell; to scent out; -- often with out. |
| noun (n.) To give heed to. |
| verb (v. i.) To affect the olfactory nerves; to have an odor or scent; -- often followed by of; as, to smell of smoke, or of musk. |
| verb (v. i.) To have a particular tincture or smack of any quality; to savor; as, a report smells of calumny. |
| verb (v. i.) To exercise the sense of smell. |
| verb (v. i.) To exercise sagacity. |
| verb (v. t.) The sense or faculty by which certain qualities of bodies are perceived through the instrumentally of the olfactory nerves. See Sense. |
| verb (v. t.) The quality of any thing or substance, or emanation therefrom, which affects the olfactory organs; odor; scent; fragrance; perfume; as, the smell of mint. |
spell | noun (n.) A spelk, or splinter. |
| noun (n.) The relief of one person by another in any piece of work or watching; also, a turn at work which is carried on by one person or gang relieving another; as, a spell at the pumps; a spell at the masthead. |
| noun (n.) The time during which one person or gang works until relieved; hence, any relatively short period of time, whether a few hours, days, or weeks. |
| noun (n.) One of two or more persons or gangs who work by spells. |
| noun (n.) A gratuitous helping forward of another's work; as, a logging spell. |
| noun (n.) A story; a tale. |
| noun (n.) A stanza, verse, or phrase supposed to be endowed with magical power; an incantation; hence, any charm. |
| verb (v. t.) To supply the place of for a time; to take the turn of, at work; to relieve; as, to spell the helmsman. |
| verb (v. t.) To tell; to relate; to teach. |
| verb (v. t.) To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm. |
| verb (v. t.) To constitute; to measure. |
| verb (v. t.) To tell or name in their proper order letters of, as a word; to write or print in order the letters of, esp. the proper letters; to form, as words, by correct orthography. |
| verb (v. t.) To discover by characters or marks; to read with difficulty; -- usually with out; as, to spell out the sense of an author; to spell out a verse in the Bible. |
| verb (v. i.) To form words with letters, esp. with the proper letters, either orally or in writing. |
| verb (v. i.) To study by noting characters; to gain knowledge or learn the meaning of anything, by study. |
tell | noun (n.) That which is told; tale; account. |
| noun (n.) A hill or mound. |
| verb (v. t.) To mention one by one, or piece by piece; to recount; to enumerate; to reckon; to number; to count; as, to tell money. |
| verb (v. t.) To utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to narrate. |
| verb (v. t.) To make known; to publish; to disclose; to divulge. |
| verb (v. t.) To give instruction to; to make report to; to acquaint; to teach; to inform. |
| verb (v. t.) To order; to request; to command. |
| verb (v. t.) To discern so as to report; to ascertain by observing; to find out; to discover; as, I can not tell where one color ends and the other begins. |
| verb (v. t.) To make account of; to regard; to reckon; to value; to estimate. |
| verb (v. i.) To give an account; to make report. |
| verb (v. i.) To take effect; to produce a marked effect; as, every shot tells; every expression tells. |
shade | noun (n.) Comparative obscurity owing to interception or interruption of the rays of light; partial darkness caused by the intervention of something between the space contemplated and the source of light. |
| noun (n.) Darkness; obscurity; -- often in the plural. |
| noun (n.) An obscure place; a spot not exposed to light; hence, a secluded retreat. |
| noun (n.) That which intercepts, or shelters from, light or the direct rays of the sun; hence, also, that which protects from heat or currents of air; a screen; protection; shelter; cover; as, a lamp shade. |
| noun (n.) Shadow. |
| noun (n.) The soul after its separation from the body; -- so called because the ancients it to be perceptible to the sight, though not to the touch; a spirit; a ghost; as, the shades of departed heroes. |
| noun (n.) The darker portion of a picture; a less illuminated part. See Def. 1, above. |
| noun (n.) Degree or variation of color, as darker or lighter, stronger or paler; as, a delicate shade of pink. |
| noun (n.) A minute difference or variation, as of thought, belief, expression, etc.; also, the quality or degree of anything which is distinguished from others similar by slight differences; as, the shades of meaning in synonyms. |
| noun (n.) To undergo or exhibit minute difference or variation, as of color, meaning, expression, etc.; to pass by slight changes; -- used chiefly with a preposition, as into, away, off. |
| verb (v. t.) To shelter or screen by intercepting the rays of light; to keep off illumination from. |
| verb (v. t.) To shelter; to cover from injury; to protect; to screen; to hide; as, to shade one's eyes. |
| verb (v. t.) To obscure; to dim the brightness of. |
| verb (v. t.) To pain in obscure colors; to darken. |
| verb (v. t.) To mark with gradations of light or color. |
| verb (v. t.) To present a shadow or image of; to shadow forth; to represent. |
shadow | noun (n.) Shade within defined limits; obscurity or deprivation of light, apparent on a surface, and representing the form of the body which intercepts the rays of light; as, the shadow of a man, of a tree, or of a tower. See the Note under Shade, n., 1. |
| noun (n.) Darkness; shade; obscurity. |
| noun (n.) A shaded place; shelter; protection; security. |
| noun (n.) A reflected image, as in a mirror or in water. |
| noun (n.) That which follows or attends a person or thing like a shadow; an inseparable companion; hence, an obsequious follower. |
| noun (n.) A spirit; a ghost; a shade; a phantom. |
| noun (n.) An imperfect and faint representation; adumbration; indistinct image; dim bodying forth; hence, mystical representation; type. |
| noun (n.) A small degree; a shade. |
| noun (n.) An uninvited guest coming with one who is invited. |
| noun (n.) To cut off light from; to put in shade; to shade; to throw a shadow upon; to overspead with obscurity. |
| noun (n.) To conceal; to hide; to screen. |
| noun (n.) To protect; to shelter from danger; to shroud. |
| noun (n.) To mark with gradations of light or color; to shade. |
| noun (n.) To represent faintly or imperfectly; to adumbrate; hence, to represent typically. |
| noun (n.) To cloud; to darken; to cast a gloom over. |
| noun (n.) To attend as closely as a shadow; to follow and watch closely, especially in a secret or unobserved manner; as, a detective shadows a criminal. |
shackle | noun (n.) Stubble. |
| noun (n.) Something which confines the legs or arms so as to prevent their free motion; specifically, a ring or band inclosing the ankle or wrist, and fastened to a similar shackle on the other leg or arm, or to something else, by a chain or a strap; a gyve; a fetter. |
| noun (n.) Hence, that which checks or prevents free action. |
| noun (n.) A fetterlike band worn as an ornament. |
| noun (n.) A link or loop, as in a chain, fitted with a movable bolt, so that the parts can be separated, or the loop removed; a clevis. |
| noun (n.) A link for connecting railroad cars; -- called also drawlink, draglink, etc. |
| noun (n.) The hinged and curved bar of a padlock, by which it is hung to the staple. |
| verb (v. t.) To tie or confine the limbs of, so as to prevent free motion; to bind with shackles; to fetter; to chain. |
| verb (v. t.) Figuratively: To bind or confine so as to prevent or embarrass action; to impede; to cumber. |
| verb (v. t.) To join by a link or chain, as railroad cars. |
shaft | noun (n.) The slender, smooth stem of an arrow; hence, an arrow. |
| noun (n.) The long handle of a spear or similar weapon; hence, the weapon itself; (Fig.) anything regarded as a shaft to be thrown or darted; as, shafts of light. |
| noun (n.) That which resembles in some degree the stem or handle of an arrow or a spear; a long, slender part, especially when cylindrical. |
| noun (n.) The trunk, stem, or stalk of a plant. |
| noun (n.) The stem or midrib of a feather. |
| noun (n.) The pole, or tongue, of a vehicle; also, a thill. |
| noun (n.) The part of a candlestick which supports its branches. |
| noun (n.) The handle or helve of certain tools, instruments, etc., as a hammer, a whip, etc. |
| noun (n.) A pole, especially a Maypole. |
| noun (n.) The body of a column; the cylindrical pillar between the capital and base (see Illust. of Column). Also, the part of a chimney above the roof. Also, the spire of a steeple. |
| noun (n.) A column, an obelisk, or other spire-shaped or columnar monument. |
| noun (n.) A rod at the end of a heddle. |
| noun (n.) A solid or hollow cylinder or bar, having one or more journals on which it rests and revolves, and intended to carry one or more wheels or other revolving parts and to transmit power or motion; as, the shaft of a steam engine. |
| noun (n.) A humming bird (Thaumastura cora) having two of the tail feathers next to the middle ones very long in the male; -- called also cora humming bird. |
| noun (n.) A well-like excavation in the earth, perpendicular or nearly so, made for reaching and raising ore, for raising water, etc. |
| noun (n.) A long passage for the admission or outlet of air; an air shaft. |
| noun (n.) The chamber of a blast furnace. |
shake | noun (n.) The act or result of shaking; a vacillating or wavering motion; a rapid motion one way and other; a trembling, quaking, or shivering; agitation. |
| noun (n.) A fissure or crack in timber, caused by its being dried too suddenly. |
| noun (n.) A fissure in rock or earth. |
| noun (n.) A rapid alternation of a principal tone with another represented on the next degree of the staff above or below it; a trill. |
| noun (n.) One of the staves of a hogshead or barrel taken apart. |
| noun (n.) A shook of staves and headings. |
| noun (n.) The redshank; -- so called from the nodding of its head while on the ground. |
| verb (v.) To cause to move with quick or violent vibrations; to move rapidly one way and the other; to make to tremble or shiver; to agitate. |
| verb (v.) Fig.: To move from firmness; to weaken the stability of; to cause to waver; to impair the resolution of. |
| verb (v.) To give a tremulous tone to; to trill; as, to shake a note in music. |
| verb (v.) To move or remove by agitating; to throw off by a jolting or vibrating motion; to rid one's self of; -- generally with an adverb, as off, out, etc.; as, to shake fruit down from a tree. |
| verb (v. i.) To be agitated with a waving or vibratory motion; to tremble; to shiver; to quake; to totter. |
| () obs. p. p. of Shake. |