welter

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: wel=ter

CIDE DICTIONARY

welter, v. i. [Freq. of OE. walten to roll over, AS. wealtan; akin to LG. weltern, G. walzen to roll, to waltz, sich wälzen to welter, OHG. walzan to roll, Icel. velta, Dan. vælte, Sw. vältra, välta; cf. Goth. waltjan; probably akin to E. wallow, well, v. i. Well, v. i., and cf. Waltz.].

•  To roll, as the body of an animal; to tumble about, especially in anything foul or defiling; to wallow.  [1913 Webster]

  "When we welter in pleasures and idleness, then we eat and drink with drunkards."  [1913 Webster]

  "These wizards welter in wealth's waves."  [1913 Webster]

  "He must not float upon his watery bier
  Unwept, and welter to the parching wind,
  Without the meed of some melodious tear."  [1913 Webster]

  "The priests at the altar . . . weltering in their blood."  [1913 Webster]
•  To rise and fall, as waves; to tumble over, as billows.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]

  "Waves that, hardly weltering, die away."  [1913 Webster]

  "Through this blindly weltering sea."  [1913 Webster]

welter, v. t. [Cf. Wilt, v. i.].

 To wither; to wilt.  [1913 Webster]
"Weltered hearts and blighted . . . memories."  [1913 Webster]

welter, a. 

 Of, pertaining to, or designating, the most heavily weighted race in a meeting; as, a welter race; the welter stakes.  [1913 Webster]

welter, n. 

•  That in which any person or thing welters, or wallows; filth; mire; slough.  [1913 Webster]

  "The foul welter of our so-called religious or other controversies."  [1913 Webster]
•  A rising or falling, as of waves; as, the welter of the billows; the welter of a tempest.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

welter, v. & n.
--v.intr.
1 roll, wallow; be washed about.
2 (foll. by in) lie prostrate or be soaked or steeped in blood etc.
--n.
1 a state of general confusion.
2 (foll. by of) a disorderly mixture or contrast of beliefs, policies, etc.

welter, n.
1 a heavy rider or boxer.
2 colloq. a heavy blow.
3 colloq. a big person or thing.

Etymology

19th c.: orig. unkn.

THESAURUS

welter

arsy-varsiness, bask, bend, blunder, careen, career, clutter, cower, cringe, crouch, falter, farrago, flounce, flounder, get down, grovel, hash, heave, helter-skelter, higgledy-piggledy, hobbyhorse, hodgepodge, hunch, hunch down, hysteron proteron, indulge, jumble, labor, litter, lurch, luxuriate, make heavy weather, mess, mishmash, mummify, mummy, pitch, pitch and plunge, pitch and toss, plunge, pound, rear, reel, revel, rock, roll, rollick, scend, scramble, scrouch down, seethe, shrivel, squat, stagger, stoop, strive, struggle, stumble, sway, swing, thrash about, topsy-turviness, topsy-turvydom, toss, toss and tumble, toss and turn, totter, tumble, turmoil, unholy mess, volutation, wallop, wallow, wilt, wizen, writhe, yaw

ROGET THESAURUS

welter

Plunge

VB plunge, dip, souse, duck, dive, plump, take a plunge, take a header, make a plunge, bathe, submerge, submerse, immerse, douse, sink, engulf, send to the bottom, get out of one's depth, go to the bottom, go down like a stone, drop like a lead balloon, founder, welter, wallow.

Rotation

VB rotate, roll along, revolve, spin, turn round, circumvolve, circulate, gyre, gyrate, wheel, whirl, pirouette, twirl, trundle, troll, bowl, roll up, furl, wallow, welter, box the compass, spin like a top, spin like a teetotum, spin out.