Hypertext Webster Gateway: "welter"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Welter \Wel"ter\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Weltered}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Weltering}.] [Freq. of OE. walten to roll over, AS.
wealtan; akin to LG. weltern, G. walzen to roll, to waltz,
sich w["a]lzen to welter, OHG. walzan to roll, Icel. velta,
Dan. v[ae]lte, Sw. v["a]ltra, v["a]lta; cf. Goth. waltjan;
probably akin to E. wallow, well, v. i. ????. See {Well}, v.
i., and cf. {Waltz}.]
1. To roll, as the body of an animal; to tumble about,
especially in anything foul or defiling; to wallow.
When we welter in pleasures and idleness, then we
eat and drink with drunkards. --Latimer.
These wizards welter in wealth's waves. --Spenser.
He must not float upon his watery bier Unwept, and
welter to the parching wind, Without the meed of
some melodious tear. --Milton.
The priests at the altar . . . weltering in their
blood. --Landor.
2. To rise and fall, as waves; to tumble over, as billows.
``The weltering waves.'' --Milton.
Waves that, hardly weltering, die away.
--Wordsworth.
Through this blindly weltering sea. --Trench.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Welter \Wel"ter\, n.
1. That in which any person or thing welters, or wallows;
filth; mire; slough.
The foul welter of our so-called religious or other
controversies. --Carlyle.
2. A rising or falling, as of waves; as, the welter of the
billows; the welter of a tempest.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Welter \Wel"ter\, v. t. [Cf. {Wilt}, v. i.]
To wither; to wilt. [R.]
Weltered hearts and blighted . . . memories. --I.
Taylor.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Welter \Wel"ter\, a. (Horse Racing)
Of, pertaining to, or designating, the most heavily weighted
race in a meeting; as, a welter race; the welter stakes.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
welter
n : a confused multitude of things [syn: {clutter}, {jumble}, {muddle},
{mare's nest}, {smother}]
v 1: toss, roll, or rise and fall in an uncontrolled way; "The
shipwrecked survivors weltered in the sea for hours"
2: roll around, as of a pig in mud [syn: {wallow}]
3: be immersed in, as of work
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