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. |
south | noun (n.) That one of the four cardinal points directly opposite to the north; the region or direction to the right or direction to the right of a person who faces the east. |
| noun (n.) A country, region, or place situated farther to the south than another; the southern section of a country. |
| noun (n.) Specifically: That part of the United States which is south of Mason and Dixon's line. See under Line. |
| noun (n.) The wind from the south. |
| adjective (a.) Lying toward the south; situated at the south, or in a southern direction from the point of observation or reckoning; proceeding toward the south, or coming from the south; blowing from the south; southern; as, the south pole. |
| adverb (adv.) Toward the south; southward. |
| adverb (adv.) From the south; as, the wind blows south. |
| verb (v. i.) To turn or move toward the south; to veer toward the south. |
| verb (v. i.) To come to the meridian; to cross the north and south line; -- said chiefly of the moon; as, the moon souths at nine. |
soul | noun (n.) The spiritual, rational, and immortal part in man; that part of man which enables him to think, and which renders him a subject of moral government; -- sometimes, in distinction from the higher nature, or spirit, of man, the so-called animal soul, that is, the seat of life, the sensitive affections and phantasy, exclusive of the voluntary and rational powers; -- sometimes, in distinction from the mind, the moral and emotional part of man's nature, the seat of feeling, in distinction from intellect; -- sometimes, the intellect only; the understanding; the seat of knowledge, as distinguished from feeling. In a more general sense, "an animating, separable, surviving entity, the vehicle of individual personal existence." |
| noun (n.) The seat of real life or vitality; the source of action; the animating or essential part. |
| noun (n.) The leader; the inspirer; the moving spirit; the heart; as, the soul of an enterprise; an able general is the soul of his army. |
| noun (n.) Energy; courage; spirit; fervor; affection, or any other noble manifestation of the heart or moral nature; inherent power or goodness. |
| noun (n.) A human being; a person; -- a familiar appellation, usually with a qualifying epithet; as, poor soul. |
| noun (n.) A pure or disembodied spirit. |
| adjective (a.) Sole. |
| adjective (a.) Sole. |
| verb (v. i.) To afford suitable sustenance. |
| verb (v. t.) To indue with a soul; to furnish with a soul or mind. |
sound | noun (n.) The air bladder of a fish; as, cod sounds are an esteemed article of food. |
| noun (n.) A cuttlefish. |
| noun (n.) A narrow passage of water, or a strait between the mainland and an island; also, a strait connecting two seas, or connecting a sea or lake with the ocean; as, the Sound between the Baltic and the german Ocean; Long Island Sound. |
| noun (n.) Any elongated instrument or probe, usually metallic, by which cavities of the body are sounded or explored, especially the bladder for stone, or the urethra for a stricture. |
| noun (n.) The peceived object occasioned by the impulse or vibration of a material substance affecting the ear; a sensation or perception of the mind received through the ear, and produced by the impulse or vibration of the air or other medium with which the ear is in contact; the effect of an impression made on the organs of hearing by an impulse or vibration of the air caused by a collision of bodies, or by other means; noise; report; as, the sound of a drum; the sound of the human voice; a horrid sound; a charming sound; a sharp, high, or shrill sound. |
| noun (n.) The occasion of sound; the impulse or vibration which would occasion sound to a percipient if present with unimpaired; hence, the theory of vibrations in elastic media such cause sound; as, a treatise on sound. |
| noun (n.) Noise without signification; empty noise; noise and nothing else. |
| superlative (superl.) Whole; unbroken; unharmed; free from flaw, defect, or decay; perfect of the kind; as, sound timber; sound fruit; a sound tooth; a sound ship. |
| superlative (superl.) Healthy; not diseased; not being in a morbid state; -- said of body or mind; as, a sound body; a sound constitution; a sound understanding. |
| superlative (superl.) Firm; strong; safe. |
| superlative (superl.) Free from error; correct; right; honest; true; faithful; orthodox; -- said of persons; as, a sound lawyer; a sound thinker. |
| superlative (superl.) Founded in truth or right; supported by justice; not to be overthrown on refuted; not fallacious; as, sound argument or reasoning; a sound objection; sound doctrine; sound principles. |
| superlative (superl.) heavy; laid on with force; as, a sound beating. |
| superlative (superl.) Undisturbed; deep; profound; as, sound sleep. |
| superlative (superl.) Founded in law; legal; valid; not defective; as, a sound title to land. |
| adverb (adv.) Soundly. |
| verb (v. t.) To measure the depth of; to fathom; especially, to ascertain the depth of by means of a line and plummet. |
| verb (v. t.) Fig.: To ascertain, or try to ascertain, the thoughts, motives, and purposes of (a person); to examine; to try; to test; to probe. |
| verb (v. t.) To explore, as the bladder or urethra, with a sound; to examine with a sound; also, to examine by auscultation or percussion; as, to sound a patient. |
| verb (v. i.) To ascertain the depth of water with a sounding line or other device. |
| verb (v. i.) To make a noise; to utter a voice; to make an impulse of the air that shall strike the organs of hearing with a perceptible effect. |
| verb (v. i.) To be conveyed in sound; to be spread or published; to convey intelligence by sound. |
| verb (v. i.) To make or convey a certain impression, or to have a certain import, when heard; hence, to seem; to appear; as, this reproof sounds harsh; the story sounds like an invention. |
| verb (v. t.) To causse to make a noise; to play on; as, to sound a trumpet or a horn. |
| verb (v. t.) To cause to exit as a sound; as, to sound a note with the voice, or on an instrument. |
| verb (v. t.) To order, direct, indicate, or proclain by a sound, or sounds; to give a signal for by a certain sound; as, to sound a retreat; to sound a parley. |
| verb (v. t.) To celebrate or honor by sounds; to cause to be reported; to publish or proclaim; as, to sound the praises of fame of a great man or a great exploit. |
| verb (v. t.) To examine the condition of (anything) by causing the same to emit sounds and noting their character; as, to sound a piece of timber; to sound a vase; to sound the lungs of a patient. |
| verb (v. t.) To signify; to import; to denote. |
sour | noun (n.) A sour or acid substance; whatever produces a painful effect. |
| superlative (superl.) Having an acid or sharp, biting taste, like vinegar, and the juices of most unripe fruits; acid; tart. |
| superlative (superl.) Changed, as by keeping, so as to be acid, rancid, or musty, turned. |
| superlative (superl.) Disagreeable; unpleasant; hence; cross; crabbed; peevish; morose; as, a man of a sour temper; a sour reply. |
| superlative (superl.) Afflictive; painful. |
| superlative (superl.) Cold and unproductive; as, sour land; a sour marsh. |
| verb (v. t.) To cause to become sour; to cause to turn from sweet to sour; as, exposure to the air sours many substances. |
| verb (v. t.) To make cold and unproductive, as soil. |
| verb (v. t.) To make unhappy, uneasy, or less agreeable. |
| verb (v. t.) To cause or permit to become harsh or unkindly. |
| verb (v. t.) To macerate, and render fit for plaster or mortar; as, to sour lime for business purposes. |
| verb (v. i.) To become sour; to turn from sweet to sour; as, milk soon sours in hot weather; a kind temper sometimes sours in adversity. |
souse | noun (n.) A corrupt form of Sou. |
| noun (n.) Pickle made with salt. |
| noun (n.) Something kept or steeped in pickle; esp., the pickled ears, feet, etc., of swine. |
| noun (n.) The ear; especially, a hog's ear. |
| noun (n.) The act of sousing; a plunging into water. |
| noun (n.) The act of sousing, or swooping. |
| verb (v. t.) To steep in pickle; to pickle. |
| verb (v. t.) To plunge or immerse in water or any liquid. |
| verb (v. t.) To drench, as by an immersion; to wet throughly. |
| verb (v. t.) To swoop or plunge, as a bird upon its prey; to fall suddenly; to rush with speed; to make a sudden attack. |
| verb (v. t.) To pounce upon. |
| adverb (adv.) With a sudden swoop; violently. |