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swell

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swell

1. 
a. the undulating movement of the surface of the open sea
b. a succession of waves or a single large wave
2. a gentle hill
3. Music a crescendo followed by an immediate diminuendo
4. Music
a. a set of pipes on an organ housed in a box (swell box) fitted with a shutter operated by a pedal, which can be opened or closed to control the volume
b. the manual on an organ controlling this
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

swell

[swel]
(geology)
The volumetric increase of soils on being removed from their compacted beds due to an increase in void ratio.
A local enlargement or thickening in a vein or ore deposit.
A low dome or quaquaversal anticline of considerable areal extent; long and generally symmetrical waves contribute to the mixing processes in the surface layer and thus to its sound transmission properties.
Gently rising ground, or a rounded hill above the surrounding ground or ocean floor.
(mining engineering)
(oceanography)
Ocean waves which have traveled away from their generating area; these waves are of relatively long length and period, and regular in character.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Swell

 

independent fluctuations of the surface of the ocean or sea during a complete calm, consisting of long and sloping waves up to 10–15 m high and 300–400 m long and with phases of up to 17–20 sec. They result from the conversion of wind waves during their departure from an area of wind activity or after the dying down of winds. Waves of a swell are nearly indistinguishable in terms of size and shape. Particles of water in such waves move in regular circular orbits.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive
Key Words: Painful Swollen Leg, Deep Vein Thrombosis, Cellulitis; Ultrasonography, Doppler Ultrasound
the void volume fraction in the swollen sample was expected to be equal to that of the initial dry sample.
So, for example, an infection spreading from an ingrown toenail can give you swollen glands in your groin.
where "D" represents the coefficient of diffusion as "[m.sup.2] [s.sup.-1] " and "r" represents the swollen gels radius as "m."
Thus the prevailing internal stress, in the swollen polymer, in a state of plane stress (although this may well not apply in a highly swollen polymer mass) will be given by: where the modulus is reduced by the swelling, as before, and v is the Poisson's ratio.
Melissa Lion went to a writer's conference and met an editor of adult books at Crown, Shaye Areheart, who spotted her talent, but thought the audience for Swollen should be young adult.
One of the 17-year-old defendants yesterday agreed his hands were swollen when examined by a doctor after the alleged attack.
A second form of diphtheria causes sores on the skin that may be painful, red, and swollen.
Description: These are the mainstay arthritis drugs that are known to relieve painful, swollen joints and to slow joint damage.
Similarly, when air is prevented from entering a paranasal sinus by a swollen membrane at the opening, a vacuum can be created that also causes pain.
This makes the flesh under the nail swollen and painful.
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