intumesce

2 definitions found

intumesce - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Intumesce \In`tu*mesce"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Intumesced; p.
     pr. & vb. n. Intumescing.] [L. intumescere; pref. in- in +
     tumescere to swell up, incho. fr. tumere to swell. See
     Tumid.]
     To enlarge or expand with heat; to swell; specifically, to
     swell up or bubble up under the action of heat, as before the
     blowpipe.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           In a higher heat, it intumesces, and melts into a
           yellowish black mass.                    --Kirwan.
     [1913 Webster]

intumesce - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  intumesce
      v 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" [syn: bubble up, intumesce]
      2: expand abnormally; "The bellies of the starving children are
         swelling" [syn: swell, swell up, intumesce, tumefy,
         tumesce]