rare. In 6 swellenes. [f. SWELL sb. or v. + -NESS.]
† 1. Protuberance. Obs.
a. 1583. in Halliwell, Rara Mathem. (1841), 38. You shall see your owne face … to bee in swellenes accordinge to the forme of the hylling or bossing outwardes.
2. The condition of a ‘swell’ or person of distinction. colloq.
1885. Manitoba Weekly Free Press, 26 Nov., 5/6. There are and have been in the world men who obtain to a certain degree of consideration on account of their ‘swellness,’ no matter how vicious their mode of life may be.
1894. Huxley, in Life (1900), II. xxii. 373. My swellness is an awful burden.
