intumesce meaning and definition

INTUMESCE verb

Definition of intumesce (verb)

1. move upwards in bubbles, as from the effect of heating; also used metaphorically
   • "Gases bubbled up from the earth"; "Marx's ideas have bubbled up in many places in Latin America"
   • synonyms: bubble up
2. expand abnormally
   • "The bellies of the starving children are swelling"
   • synonyms: swell, swell up, tumefy, tumesce