whelm

  • 1Whelm — Whelm, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Whelmed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Whelming}.] [OE. whelmen to turn over, akin to OE. whelven, AS. whelfan, hwylfan, in ?whylfan, ?whelfan, to overwhelm, cover over; akin to OS. bihwelbian, D. welven to arch, G. w[ o]lben, OHG …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2whelm — index overcome (overwhelm) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 3whelm — c.1300, probably from a parallel form of O.E. hwielfan (W.Saxon), hwelfan (Mercian), in ahwelfan cover over; probably altered by association with O.E. helmian to cover (see HELMET (Cf. helmet)) …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4whelm — [hwelm, welm] vt. [ME welmen, whelmen: ? merging of OE hwelfan, to overwhelm, with helmian, to cover: see HELM1] 1. to submerge, cover, or engulf 2. to overpower or crush; overwhelm …

    English World dictionary

  • 5whelm — over·whelm; over·whelm·ing·ness; whelm; un·der·whelm; over·whelm·ing·ly; …

    English syllables

  • 6whelm — verb Etymology: Middle English Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to turn (as a dish or vessel) upside down usually to cover something ; cover or engulf completely with usually disastrous effect 2. to overcome in thought or feeling ; overwhelm …

    New Collegiate Dictionary

  • 7whelm — /hwelm, welm/, v.t. 1. to submerge; engulf. 2. to overcome utterly; overwhelm: whelmed by misfortune. v.i. 3. to roll or surge over something, as in becoming submerged. [1250 1300; ME whelme, appar. b. dial. whelve (OE gehwelfan to bend over) and …

    Universalium

  • 8whelm — verb /welm,ʍelm/ a) To cover with water; to submerge b) To overcome with emotion …

    Wiktionary

  • 9whelm — Synonyms and related words: baptize, be prodigal with, blank, bulldoze, bury, cascade, cataract, clobber, cream, defeat utterly, deluge, dip, douse, drown, duck, dunk, engulf, float, flood, flood the market, flow on, immerge, immerse, inundate,… …

    Moby Thesaurus

  • 10whelm — (Roget s Thesaurus II) verb 1. To flow over completely: deluge, drown, engulf, flood, flush, inundate, overflow, overwhelm, submerge. See FULL. 2. To affect as if by an outpouring of water: deluge, flood, inundate, overwhelm, swamp. See FULL …

    English dictionary for students