whelm
Americanverb (used with object)
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to submerge; engulf.
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to overcome utterly; overwhelm.
whelmed by misfortune.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to engulf entirely with or as if with water
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another word for overwhelm
Etymology
Origin of whelm
First recorded in 1250–1300; from Middle English whelme, apparently blend of dialectal whelve, from Old English gehwelfan “to bend over,” and helm 2 (verb), from Old English helmian “to cover”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
You almost wish that the book would occasionally simply whelm you, but of course that’s all that most books do, even good books.
From Slate • Jan. 29, 2020
In it his flair for the spectacular, the mod and the grotesque is overwhelming, in ways that admittedly may whelm some more than others.
From Time Magazine Archive
Now we wait simply for Engagement, & hear continual Word that Gen. Gage shall march from out the Town and try to whelm us all.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
Under Philip's feet at last Writhed all the Protestant Netherlands, dim coasts Right over against us, whence his panoplies Might suddenly whelm our isle.
From Collected Poems Volume One by Noyes, Alfred
And when I passed your balcony Expecting only blows, From height or vantage-ground, you stooped To whelm me with a rose.
From Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910 by Elliott, Maud Howe
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
