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Webster 1913 Edition
Whelm
Whelm
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Whelmed
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Whelming
.] [OE.
whelmen
to turn over, akin to OE. whelven
, AS. whelfan
, hwylfan
, in [GREEK]whylfan
, [GREEK]whelfan
, to overwhelm, cover over; akin to OS. bihwelbian
, D. welven
to arch, G. wölben
, OHG. welben
, Icel. hvelfa
to overturn; cf. Gr. [GREEK] bosom, a hollow, a gulf.] 1.
To cover with water or other fluid; to cover by immersion in something that envelops on all sides; to overwhelm; to ingulf.
She is my prize, or ocean
whelm
them all! Shakespeare
The
whelming
billow and the faithless oar. Gay.
2.
Fig.: To cover completely, as if with water; to immerse; to overcome;
“The whelming weight of crime.” as, to
. whelm
one in sorrowsJ. H. Newman.
3.
To throw (something) over a thing so as to cover it.
[Obs.]
Mortimer.
Webster 1828 Edition
Whelm
WHELM
,Verb.
T.
1.
To cover with water or other fluid; to cover by immersion in something that envelops on all sides; as, to whelm a person or a company in the seas; to whelm a caravan in sand or dust.2.
To cover completely; to immerse deeply; to overburden; as, to whelm one in sorrows.3.
To throw over so as to cover. [Not used.]Definition 2024
whelm
whelm
English
Verb
whelm (third-person singular simple present whelms, present participle whelming, simple past and past participle whelmed)
- To cover; to submerge; to engulf; to bury.
- 1602, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 2, Scene 2, 1813, The Plays of William Shakespeare, Volume 5: Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, page 90,
- Give fire; she is my prize, or ocean whelm them all!
- 1716, John Gay, Trivia, or The Art of Walking the Streets of London, Book II, 1804, Samuel Johnson, The Works of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland, page 341,
- Then shall the passenger too late deplore / The whelming billow and the faithless oar.
- 1998, Madelyn Roeder Camrud, Under the Whelming Tide: The 1997 Flood of the Red River of the North.
- 1602, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 2, Scene 2, 1813, The Plays of William Shakespeare, Volume 5: Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, page 90,
- To overcome with emotion.
- 1903, John Henry Newman, Hymn for Vespers, Sunday, Verses on Various Occasions, 1989, Prayers, Verses, and Devotions, page 638,
- Hear, lest the whelming weight of crime / Wreck us with life in view;
- 1903, John Henry Newman, Hymn for Vespers, Sunday, Verses on Various Occasions, 1989, Prayers, Verses, and Devotions, page 638,
- (obsolete) To throw (something) over a thing so as to cover it.
- 1708, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry, 2nd Edition, page 253,
- Balls made of horse-dung and laid in a room will do the same if they are new made; by which means you may whelm some things over them and keep them there.
- 1708, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry, 2nd Edition, page 253,