sweal

/swiːl/

Etymology

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

sweal means to burn slowly. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

sweal is pronounced /swiːl/.

Why “sweal” is a great word

SWEAL — [Verb] To burn or melt slowly with a faint, smouldering heat, as when tallow gutters from a candle or a surface is superficially singed. From Middle English swelen, from Old English swelan ("to burn, be burnt up"), from Proto-West Germanic *swelan, from Proto-Germanic *swelaną ("to smoulder, burn slowly"), from Proto-Indo-European *swel- ("to shine, warm, smoulder, burn"). Unlike incinerate, which implies a swift and total consumption, or singe, which suggests a brief, superficial burn, sweal denotes the patient, quiet attrition of matter by reluctant flame. It is the greasy, perfumed descent of wax down a spent taper, the acrid scent of wool held too near a hearth, or the slow, weeping sag of sealing wax surrendering to a low coal—a testament to the minor, mournful degradations that precede a final extinguishing.

verb

To burn slowly.
To melt and run down, as the tallow of a candle; waste away without feeding the flame.“[M]ind ye dinna let the candle sweal as ye gang alang the wainscot parlour, and haud a' the house scouring to get out the grease again.”
To singe; scorch; dress (as a hog) with burning or singeing.
To consume with fire; burn.
To make disappear; cause to waste away; diminish; reduce.“"He thinks it's only a tumour!" cried Annie to her mother. "And he can sweal it away."”