TUMEFY

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

Irregular inflected form: tumefied

Meaning:

Expand abnormally

Example:

The bellies of the starving children are swelling

Synonyms:

intumesce; swell; swell up; tumefy; tumesce

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "tumefy" is one way to...):

expand (become larger in size or volume or quantity)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tumefy"):

distend (swell from or as if from internal pressure)

belly; belly out (swell out or bulge out)

blow up; puff; puff out; puff up (to swell or cause to enlarge)

bloat (become bloated or swollen or puff up)

blister; vesicate (get blistered)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

tumefaction (the process of tumefying; the organic process whereby tissue becomes swollen by the accumulation of fluid within it)