welter Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a confused multitude of things
    muddle; smother; clutter; mare's nest; fuddle; jumble.
  2. verb toss, roll, or rise and fall in an uncontrolled way
    • The shipwrecked survivors weltered in the sea for hours
  3. verb roll around, "pigs were wallowing in the mud"
    wallow.
  4. verb be immersed in
    • welter in work

WordNet

Wel"ter intransitive verb
Etymology
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. . See Well, v. i., and cf. Waltz.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Weltered ; present participle & verbal noun Weltering
Definitions
  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.
Wel"ter transitive verb
Etymology
Cf. Wilt, v. i.
Definitions
  1. To wither; to wilt. R.
    Weltered hearts and blighted . . . memories. I. Taylor.
Wel"ter adjective
Definitions
  1. (Horse Racing) Of, pertaining to, or designating, the most heavily weighted race in a meeting; as, a welter race; the welter stakes.
Wel"ter noun
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913