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Webster 1913 Edition


Wallow

Wal′low

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Wallowed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Wallowing
.]
[OE.
walwen
, AS.
wealwian
; akin to Goth.
walwjan
(in comp.) to roll, L.
volvere
; cf. Skr.
val
to turn. √147. Cf.
Voluble Well
,
Noun.
]
1.
To roll one’s self about, as in mire; to tumble and roll about; to move lazily or heavily in any medium; to flounder;
as, swine
wallow
in the mire
.
I may
wallow
in the lily beds.
Shakespeare
2.
To live in filth or gross vice; to disport one's self in a beastly and unworthy manner.
God sees a man
wallowing
in his native impurity.
South.
3.
To wither; to fade.
[Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Wal′low

,
Verb.
T.
To roll; esp., to roll in anything defiling or unclean.
Wallow thyself in ashes.”
Jer. vi. 26.

Wal′low

,
Noun.
A kind of rolling walk.
One taught the toss, and one the new French
wallow
.
Dryden.

Webster 1828 Edition


Wallow

WALLOW

,
Verb.
I.
[L., G. This verb seems to be connected with well, walk, &c.]
1.
To roll ones body on the earth, in mire, or on other substance; to tumble and roll in water. Swine wallow in the mire.
2.
To move heavily and clumsily.
Part huge of bulk, wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their gait, tempest the ocean. [Unusual.]
3.
To live in filth or gross vice; as man wallowing in his native impurity.

WALLOW

,
Verb.
T.
To roll ones body.
Wallow thyself in ashes. Jeremiah 6.

WALLOW

,
Noun.
A kind of rolling walk.

Definition 2024


wallow

wallow

English

Alternative forms

Verb

wallow (third-person singular simple present wallows, present participle wallowing, simple past and past participle wallowed)

  1. (intransitive) To roll oneself about in something dirty, for example in mud
    Pigs wallow in the mud.
    • Shakespeare:
      I may wallow in the lily beds.
  2. to move lazily or heavily in any medium; to flounder
  3. (intransitive) To immerse oneself in, to occupy oneself with, metaphorically.
    She wallowed in her misery.
  4. (intransitive) To live in filth or in a sickening manner.
    • South:
      God sees a man wallowing in his native impurity.
  5. (intransitive, Britain, Scotland, dialect) To wither; to fade.
Usage notes

In the sense of “to immerse oneself in, to occupy oneself with”, it is almost exclusively used for self-indulgent negative emotions, particularly self-pity. See synonyms for general or positive alternatives, such as revel.

Synonyms
Translations

Noun

wallow (plural wallows)

  1. An instance of wallowing.
  2. A pool of water or mud in which animals wallow, or the depression left by them in the ground.
  3. A kind of rolling walk.
Translations

Etymology 2

(From inflected forms of) Old English wealġ, from Proto-Germanic *walwo-. Cognate with Dutch walg (disgust), dialectal Norwegian valg (tasteless). Compare waugh.

Adjective

wallow (comparative more wallow, superlative most wallow)

  1. (now dialectal) Tasteless, flat.