sweal

English

Alternative forms

• swale

Etymology

From Middle English swelen, from Old English swelan (“to burn, be burnt up, inflame”, st vb) (compare Old English swǣlan (“to burn”, wk vb)), from Proto-Germanic *swelanan (“to smoulder, burn slowly, cool”), from Proto-Indo-European *swel- (“to shine, warm”). Cognate with Dutch zwelen (“to smoulder”), Low German swelen (“to smoulder”), German schwelen (“to smoulder”), Icelandic svala (“to cool”). Related to swelter.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /swiːl/

Verb

sweal (third-person singular simple present sweals, present participle swealing, simple past and past participle swealed)

1. (intransitive) To burn slowly.
2. (intransitive) To melt and run down, as the tallow of a candle; waste away without feeding the flame.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Walter Scott to this entry?)

3. (transitive) To singe; scorch; dress (as a hog) with burning or singeing.
4. (transitive, dialectal) To consume with fire; burn.
5. (transitive, dialectal) To make disappear; cause to waste away; diminish; reduce.
   • 1913, DH Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, Penguin 2006, p. 414:

     Here!—But you know, they can sweal a tumour away.

Anagrams

• lawes, swale, Wales, wales, weals