Verb
(third-person singular simple present sweals, present participle swealing, simple past and past participle swealed)
- (intransitive) To burn slowly.
- (intransitive) To melt and run down, as the tallow of a candle; waste away without feeding the flame.
- To singe; scorch; dress (as a hog) with burning or singeing.
- (dialectal) To consume with fire; burn.
- (dialectal) To make disappear; cause to waste away; diminish; reduce.
Origin
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 *swelaną (“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.
