welter

welter 1[wel-ter] SynonymsExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for welter on Thesaurus.com verb (used without object)

1. to roll, toss, or heave, as waves or the sea.
2. to roll, writhe, or tumble about; wallow, as animals (often followed by about): pigs weltering about happily in the mud.
3. to lie bathed in or be drenched in something, especially blood.
4. to become deeply or extensively involved, associated, entangled, etc.: to welter in setbacks, confusion, and despair.

noun

5. a confused mass; a jumble or muddle: a welter of anxious faces.
6. a state of commotion, turmoil, or upheaval: the welter that followed the surprise attack.
7. a rolling, tossing, or tumbling about, as or as if by the sea, waves, or wind: They found the shore through the mighty welter.

Origin of welter 1 1250–1300; Middle English, frequentative (see -er6) of welten to roll, Old English weltan; cognate with Middle Dutch welteren, Low German weltern to rollSynonyms for welter See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com 6. confusion, tumult. welter 2[wel-ter] noun

1. Informal. a welterweight boxer or wrestler.

adjective

2. (of a steeplechase or hurdle race) pertaining to, or noting a race in which the horses bear welterweights.

Origin of welter 2First recorded in 1785–95; welt + -er1 Related Words for welter jumble, turmoil, tumble, toss, grovel, uproar, confusion, overturn, roll Examples from the Web for welter Contemporary Examples of welter

There no longer is anywhere to hide from the swelter and welter of the American id.

Drug-Resistant Gonorrhea, the ‘Sex Superbug,’ Is Not Worse Than AIDS

Kent Sepkowitz

May 7, 2013

Historical Examples of welter

Jon Venex plunged through the window in a welter of flying glass.

The Velvet Glove

Harry Harrison

Beardsley stood numbly for a moment, struggling against a welter of panic.

We’re Friends, Now

Henry Hasse

Of the only effective truth in the welter of silly lies that deceived you so easily?

Victory

Joseph Conrad

Here her speech was lost while she delved head first into the welter.

Miss Pat at School

Pemberton Ginther

He could see nothing but vanity back of him and a welter of cost ahead.

In a Little Town

Rupert Hughes

British Dictionary definitions for welter welter verb (intr)

1. to roll about, writhe, or wallow
2. (esp of the sea) to surge, heave, or toss
3. to lie drenched in a liquid, esp blood

noun

4. a rolling motion, as of the sea
5. a confused mass; jumble

Word Origin for welter C13: from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch weltern; related to Old High German walzan, welzen to roll Word Origin and History for welter v.

“to roll or twist,” c.1300, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German welteren “to roll,” from Proto-Germanic *waltijanan (cf. Old English wieltan, Old Norse velta, Old High German walzan “to turn, revolve,” German wälzen “to roll,” Gothic waltjan “to roll”), from PIE root *wel- “to turn, revolve” (see volvox). The noun meaning “confused mass” is first recorded 1851.