A puffy or enlarged area on the body, usually caused by injury, infection, or inflammation, that bulges out from the skin.
From Old English 'swellan,' meaning 'to expand' or 'to swell up.' The word is ancient Germanic, related to similar words in Dutch and German, and has meant the same thing—an expansion or growth—for over a thousand years.
When you get a swelling, it's actually your immune system at work—your body is flooding the area with fluid and white blood cells to protect you from infection! So that puffy bump is basically your body's superpower fighting off germs.
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