whelmn.
/hwɛlm/ 1. A wooden drainpipe: originally a tree-trunk halved vertically, hollowed, and ‘whelmed down’ or turned with the concavity downwards to form an arched watercourse. Now dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > ditching or drainage > [noun] > covered
wholve1395
whelmc1576
turf-drain1805
barrel-drain1823
tunnel1828
turf-draining1831
c1576 in Catal. Archives All Souls' Coll. (1877) 37 Quidam truncus vocatus a whelme.
1584 Court-roll Wormingford, Essex (MS) Cursus aquae vocat. The whealme est in decasu.
1613 Court-roll Wormingford, Essex (MS) [To place] sufficientem truncam (Anglicè a whelme) in regia via.
1797 A. Young Gen. View Agric. Suffolk 157 I strongly recommend these carrier ditches to be open, though at the expence of a whelm at the bottom of a field where a cart-way is necessary.
1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 478.
2. The overwhelming surge of waters. poetic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > flood or flooding > [noun]
streamc950
water floodOE
floodc1000
waterOE
diluvya1325
waterganga1325
flowinga1340
delugec1374
diluvec1386
Noah's floodc1390
overflowing1430
inundation1432
flowa1450
surrounding1449
over-drowninga1500
spate1513
float1523
drowning1539
ravine1545
alluvion1550
surundacion1552
watershot1567
overflow1589
ravage1611
inunding1628
surroundera1642
water breach1669
flooding1799
debacle1802
diluviation1816
deluging1824
superflux1830
whelm1842
come1862
floodage1862
sheet-flood1897
flash flooding1939
flash-flood1940
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > movement of waves > [noun] > surging, rolling, or heaving
walteringc1400
washing?1473
rolling1485
walterc1540
surging1585
boil1805
welteringa1807
seethe1816
ride1822
whelm1842
welter1849
washing in1877
wash1883
1842 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 52 287 Dark yawn'd a cleft in the midst of the whelm.
1888 A. C. Swinburne Armada v. iii, in Poems (1904) III. 203 They sink in the whelm of the waters.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
whelmv.
/hwɛlm/ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > fall [verb (intransitive)] > capsize or be upset
whelma1300
overturna1393
overset1641
coup1787
upset1799
capsize1805
to turn the turtle1818
to go over1829
keela1860
to turn turtle1860
wintle1867
turtle1920
a1300 Cursor Mundi 24862 Þaa sori loked ai sua for-suonken, Quen þe scip suld quelm and drunken.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. clxxxviii By the Mysgydynge of the Sterysman he was set vpon the Pylys of the Brydge, and the Barge whelmyd.
2. † b. gen. To turn downwards: in quots. with reference to Fortune's wheel. Obsolete.† c. To cover (a thing) by turning a vessel, etc. upside down over it. Obsolete.† e. To turn over (soil, etc.) so as to expose the under parts. Also absol. Obsolete.
a. transitive. To turn (a hollow vessel) upside down, or over or upon something so as to cover it; to turn with the concave side downwards. Now dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > inversion > invert [verb (transitive)]
to-wendc893
whelvec1000
to turn down?c1335
to turn up?c1335
whelmc1340
overturna1382
to turn overa1400
wholve14..
inverse?a1425
reverse?a1425
overwhelvec1450
overvolvea1522
transverse1557
evert1566
topsy-turn1573
topsy-turve1603
invert1610
upturn1610
whave1611
topsy-turvy1626
whemmel1684
cant1850
upend1868
flip-flop1924
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > cover [verb (transitive)] > by turning something upside down over > turn upside down so as to cover
whelmc1340
whelve1854
c1340 Nominale (Skeat) 360 Apres beyuer hanap endente, welme the cuppe.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 524/1 Whelmyn a vessel, suppino.
14.. Med. Receipts in MS. Lincoln A. i. 17, lf. 285 (Halliw.) Tak a bryghte bacyne, and anoynte it with mylke reme, and whelme it over a prene.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid v. xii. 18 And, with that word, his helm Befoir thair feit all void down did he quhelm.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 780/2 Whelme a platter upon it, to save it from flyes.
1590 C. Lucar Lucarsolace iv. i. 147 Whelme a new elme bole in the bottome of the said hole.
1604 N. F. Fruiterers Secrets 18 Whelme downe the maunds, emptying them gently, into small baskets.
1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. 303 The barbarous whelm'd their shields ouer their heads.
1643 J. Lightfoot Handfull Gleanings Exod. 47 On the top..lay a golden dish whelmed downe.
1657 S. Purchas Theatre Flying-insects 178 A tub..which as soon as you have emptied, suddenly whelm it upside down.
1687 E. Settle Refl. Dryden's Plays 2 That the Earth is like a Trencher, and the Heavens a Dish whelmed over it.
1714 Philos. Trans. 1713 (Royal Soc.) 28 254 It was found with the Mouth whelm'd downward.
1796 J. Troutbeck Scilly Isles 171 Their ovens are large iron pots which they whelm over things to be baked, upon heated iron plates.
1842 Florist's Jrnl. (1846) 3 24 Pansies that were planted out in the autumn, should be protected by whelming a small pot over each plant.
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 392 Whelm that dish over them currants.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > calamity or misfortune > have befallen as a misfortune to [verb (transitive)] > turn (fortune's wheel) downwards
whelm1508
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (transitive)] > turn downwards
whelm1508
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. diiv Quhan on fortone quhelmys ye quheil.
1532 Chaucer's Wks., Troylus i. 139 And thus Fortune a lofte And vnder efte gan hem to whelmen [MSS. whielen, weyle(n] bothe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > cover [verb (transitive)] > by turning something upside down over
whelma1475
whemmel1790
a1475 Bk. Curtasye (Sloane 1986) l. 703 in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 323 A qwyte cuppe of tre þer-by shalle be, Þer-with þo water assay schalle he; Quelmes hit agayn by-fore alle men.
?1533 W. Tyndale Expos. Mathew v. f. xxviijv As men light not a candle to whelme it vnder a busshel.
1647 H. More Philos. Poems i. i. xxv So School-boyes do aspire With coppell'd hat to quelme the Bee.
1651 T. Gataker in T. Fuller Abel Redevivus 524 Those that are wont to wrap up their talent in a towell, and whelm their light under a bushell.
d. To throw (something) over violently or in a heap upon something else, esp. so as to cover or to crush or smother it.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > projecting through space or throwing > throw [verb (transitive)] > over something so as to cover or crush it
whelma1631
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > cover [verb (transitive)] > throw over to cover > violently
whelma1631
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1953) VI. 67 Hill upon hill whelmed upon it.
1637 J. Pocklington Altare Christianum 96 This Milstone of a consequence the Author has whelmed upon himselfe.
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. iv. 166 Fig. 3. is to be whelmed upon Fig. 2. so that A. in Fig. 3. touch A. in Fig. 2.
1752 E. Young Brothers i. i Not seals of adamant, not mountains whelm'd On guilty secrets, can exclude the day.
1888 S. O. Addy Gloss. Words Sheffield at Whawm Whawm that cloth over that pancheon.
1894 R. D. Blackmore Perlycross I. vi. 69 With..a broad hat whelmed down upon his hairless white face.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > break up land [verb (intransitive)] > turn over soil
whelm1652
trench1833
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > break up land [verb (transitive)] > turn over
turnc1425
to turn up1523
trench1573
to turn over1580
whelm1652
invert1712
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > ploughing > plough (land) [verb (transitive)]
eareOE
till1377
plough1423
break1499
sheugh1513
ayrec1540
to break up1557
furrow1576
spit1648
whelm1652
manage1655
hack1732
thorough1733
to plough in1764
rout1836
1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved xxviii. 192 The phin made broad, descending or whelming to the right hand.
1759 J. Mills tr. H. L. Duhamel du Monceau Pract. Treat. Husbandry i. ix. 49 In this plough, the place of breast-board must be supplied by an iron plate, which..is..carried back, and gradually brought to whelm, as if it would fall upon the furrow.
1795 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Essex 180 To bury every weed by whelming the slice or furrow completely over.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > cover [verb (intransitive)] > cover a thing by passing over it
whelmc1440
overswarm1875
c1440 Bone Flor. 683 Garcy hyt Otes on the helme, That upon hys hedd hyt can whelme.
1690 J. Dryden Don Sebastian i. i. 1 The Waves whelm'd over him.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis ix, in tr. Virgil Wks. 485 The Tow'r that follow'd on the fallen Crew, Whelm'd o're their Heads, and bury'd whom it slew.
1700 R. Blackmore Paraphr. Job xxii. 98 Dismal Floods of Grief whelm o'er thy Head.
4. transitive.
a. To cover completely with water or other fluid so as to ruin or destroy; to submerge, drown; occasionally to sink (a boat).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > shipwreck > cause to suffer shipwreck [verb (transitive)] > cause to sink
besinkc1200
sinka1300
whelm1558
founder1659
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being submerged or action of submerging > submerge [verb (transitive)] > so as to ruin or destroy
adrenchOE
whelm1558
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (transitive)] > dip or plunge into liquid > cause to sink in a liquid
senchOE
asenchOE
sinkc1175
drenchc1200
adrenchc1300
drenklea1325
submerse?a1425
drownc1465
submerge1490
sommerse1632
whelm1725
whemmel1824
1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos i. sig. A.ij Let out thy windes & all their ships do drown wt waters wylde, Disperse them all to sondrie shores or whelme them downe wt deepe.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) ii. ii. 133 Giue fire: she is my prize, or Ocean whelme them all. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 375 He saw his Friends, who whelm'd beneath the Waves, Their Fun'ral Honours claim'd.
1725 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey I. iv. 658 Whelm'd in the bottom of the monstrous deep.
1818 W. Scott Battle of Sempach xxxvi He 'whelmed the boat, and as they strove, He stunn'd them with his oar.
1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 295 Marsh land..has at last been over~flowed, and thousands of the inhabitants whelmed in the waves.
1888 A. Jessopp Coming of Friars ii. 105 Flocks, and herds, and corn and hay being whelmed in the deluge.
b. To bury under a load of earth, snow, or the like.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > cover [verb (transitive)] > cover over or up > with or as with earth
rekec1330
burya1400
whelm1555
1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions i. iii. 35 So whelmed in sande and grauell, that there is nothing but mere barreinesse.
1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) sig. Xiv Whelmed be the World with fire and brimstone, that [etc.].
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxxii. vi. 437 To coole oisters forsooth, they must needs whelme and cover them all over with snow.
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xiii. 601/1 A couragious Esquier of Yorkeshire, whom the sodaine ruine of a Tower..whelmed and slew outright.
1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) i. xiii. 32 The Pancreas doth lie out of the reach of Medicaments, being deeply whelmed among the Bowels.
1793– J. Aikin & A. L. Barbauld Evenings at Home (1805) IV. 3 He..dug over the whole bed, and whelmed all the relics of his flowers deep under the soil.
1801 Farmer's Mag. Jan. 52 A size of furrow-slice is raised sufficient to overlap or whelm up all the weeds.
1883 R. Broughton Belinda II. ii. viii. 117 A day that wrecks ships by fleets;..that whelms trains in its snowdrifts.
5. transferred. To engulf or bear down like a flood, storm, avalanche, etc.; hence, to involve in destruction or ruin.
a. in material sense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > devour, engulf, or consume (of fire, water, etc.)
supeOE
eatc950
fretc1000
forthnimc1175
forfret?c1225
to-fret?c1225
swallowa1340
devourc1374
upsoup1382
consumea1398
bisweligha1400
founderc1400
absorb1490
to swallow up1531
upsupa1547
incinerate1555
upswallow1591
fire1592
absume1596
abyss1596
worm1604
depredate1626
to gulp downa1644
whelm1667
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 141 Who..with solitarie hand..at one blow Unaided could have finisht thee, and whelmd Thy Legions under darkness. View more context for this quotation
1740 J. Dyer Ruins of Rome 28 The Goth and Vandal..Rush as the Breach of waters, whelming all Their Domes.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna vi. vi. 131 The files compact Whelmed me.
1853 Ld. Tennyson Princess (ed. 5) Prol. 3 Some were whelm'd with missiles of the wall.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 37 Where either haven open'd on the deeps, Roll'd a sea-haze and whelm'd the world in gray.
1883 Fortn. Rev. Feb. 162 The wind that would whelm the wilderness.
b. in immaterial sense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > crush, stifle, or overwhelm (feelings, etc.)
shendOE
whelvec1000
allayOE
ofdrunkenc1175
quenchc1175
quashc1275
stanchc1315
quella1325
slockena1340
drenchc1374
vanquishc1380
stuffa1387
daunt?a1400
adauntc1400
to put downa1425
overwhelmc1425
overwhelvec1450
quatc1450
slockc1485
suppressa1500
suffocate1526
quealc1530
to trample under foot1530
repress1532
quail1533
suppress1537
infringe1543
revocate1547
whelm1553
queasom1561
knetcha1564
squench1577
restinguish1579
to keep down1581
trample1583
repel1592
accable1602
crush1610
to wrestle down?1611
chokea1616
stranglea1616
stifle1621
smother1632
overpower1646
resuppress1654
strangulate1665
instranglea1670
to choke back, down, in, out1690
to nip or crush in the bud1746
spiflicate1749
squasha1777
to get under1799
burke1835
to stamp out1851
to trample down1853
quelch1864
to sit upon ——1864
squelch1864
smash1865
garrotte1878
scotch1888
douse1916
to drive under1920
stomp1936
stultify1958
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > devour, engulf, or consume (of fire, water, etc.) > misery, God, death, etc. (of a person)
devoura1340
gravea1340
consumec1425
whelm1553
engulf1597
combust1619
1553 Primer Edw. VI, Prayer for ryche menne Lustes, whyche whelme men into perdicion and destruction.
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (xliii. 2) The light of lyfe driueth away the mist vnder which wee were whelmed in heauinesse.
1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence Andria v. iv, in Terence in Eng. 100 My minde is so whelmed with feare, hope, ioy.
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. 265 I lay buryed and whelmed-over head and eares in a well of miseries.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. ii. 204 Sorrow whelm'd his soul.
1832 T. Campbell Ode to Germans ii And the tyrants now that whelm Half the world shall quail and flee.
1860 J. P. Kennedy Mem. W. Wirt I. xx. 302 Many other ladies were also whelmed in this awful catastrophe.
1891 A. P. Peabody King's Chapel Serm., Acts xiv. 11. 138 Christ..whelmed with his forgiving love the penitent who wept at his feet.
Derivatives
whelmed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being submerged or action of submerging > [adjective]
sunken1578
sunka1584
drowned1616
underwater1627
submersed1684
submerged1697
whelmeda1821
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [adjective] > crushing or suppressing > crushed or overwhelmed
underthrast?1402
revocate?1440
overwhelmed1630
accablé1697
waterlogged1795
whelmeda1821
choked1855
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > [adjective] > covered > covered over
overbielda1525
whelmeda1821
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > [adjective] > causing to plunge or sink in liquid > plunged or sunk in liquid
bedove1513
immersed1678
submerged1697
whelmeda1821
a1821 J. Keats Otho i. i, in R. M. Milnes Life, Lett. & Lit. Remains Keats (1848) II. 118 In my grave, Or side by side with 'whelmed mariners.
1842 J. C. Loudon Suburban Horticulturist 145 A common saucer and whelmed pot.
1898 G. Meredith Odes French Hist. 75 These tortures to distract her [sc. France] underneath Her whelmed Aurora's shade.
ˈwhelming n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [adjective] > devouring
nimminga1225
devouringa1382
swallowinga1400
whelmingc1440
consumingc1475
wide-mouthed1567
devoratory1647
consumptive1651
bloodsucking1658
involving1737
engulfing1761
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > [adjective] > overwhelmingly
whelmingc1440
smothering1590
obrute1628
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > [noun] > capsizing or upset
overthrowingc1330
subversiona1382
whelmingc1440
overseta1658
overturn1789
upset1804
capsize1807
whemmel1817
upsetting1819
purl1825
bouleversement1877
capsizal1881
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being submerged or action of submerging > [adjective] > causing submersion > so as to ruin or destroy
whelmingc1440
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > [adjective] > with or as with earth
burying1764
whelming1792
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 524/1 Whelmynge, suppinacio.
1645 J. Milton Lycidas (rev. ed.) in Poems 82 Under the whelming tide.
1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved xxviii. 193 The Coumb or Wing so fixed..to the Share, with its true whelming, hollow, cross winding, compass, just answering the cast or turn of the Furrow.
a1657 W. Burton Comm. Antoninus his Itinerary (1658) 92 The all-whelming deluge of Time.
1670 Sc. Prov. in J. Ray Coll. Eng. Prov. 282 (Scott. Prov.) If I can get his cairt at a whelming [1678, p. 379 at a wolter], I shall lend it a put.
1725 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey I. i. 210 Doom'd to welter in the whelming main.
1792 W. Wordsworth Descr. Sketches 207 By Him who saves Alike in whelming snows and roaring winds.
1799 W. Cowper Castaway 13 Not long beneath the whelming brine, Expert to swim, he lay.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel cxviii If he may live for joys or sink in 'whelming pain.
1861 A. Beresford-Hope Eng. Cathedral of 19th Cent. 166 At a crisis of growing darkness and whelming confusion.
1891 J. C. Atkinson Last of Giant-killers 145 Hidden by a whelming mass shot down from the hill above.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.c1576
v.a1300