What is "intumesce"

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.

In a higher heat, it intumesces, and melts into a yellowish black mass.
--Kirwan.

vb. 1 To swell or enlarge (abnormally) 2 To bubble up (as the result of heating)

1. v. 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]

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