Forms: 4–7 weltre, 4–6 Sc. weltir, 5–6 weltyr, 5– welter (5 Sc. velter). [a. MDu. welteren or MLG. (also LG.) weltern (hence NFris. wälteri, Sw. vältra), MHG. welzern, frequentative f. the stem welt-: see WELT v.1 and cf. WALTER v.1]
I. intr. 1. To roll or twist the body; to turn or tumble about; to lie and roll about; to writhe, to wriggle. Also with about. Now rare or Obs.
a. 1300. [implied in sense 2].
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 890. He welterys, he wristeles, he wrynges hys handes! Ibid., 1142.
c. 1440. Alphabet of Tales, 411. Sho was gretelye turment, to so muche at sho wold som tyme weltyr in þe fyre. Ibid., 488. He feld a blak myrk thyng welter betwix hym & his wyfe.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, V. v. 168. And thenne Arthur weltred and wrong, that he was other whyle vnder and another tyme aboue. Ibid., XI. viii. 582. She wrythed and weltred as a mad woman.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 78. There [in Hell] the companions of his fall … He soon discerns, and weltring by his side One … nam’d Beëlzebub.
1727–46. Thomson, Summer, 265. They … weltering in the bowl, With powerless wings around them wrapt, expire.
1751. Chesterf., Lett. to Son, 13 June. In mixed companies with your equals … you may … sit, stand, or occasionally walk, as you like; but I believe you would not think it very bienséant to … welter in an easy chair.
1815. Scott, Lord of Isles, IV. x. And the shy seal had quiet home, And welter’d in that wondrous dome.
b. To roll about (in the mire, etc.). Chiefly fig. Now rare or Obs.
1530. Palsgr., 779/2. Thou welterest in the myer, as thou were a sowe.
1583. Golding, Calvin on Deut., xxi. 122. Verie fewe of them vouchsafed to consider that: for all of them lay weltring stil in their owne dung.
1603. Holland, Plutarch’s Mor., 264. Oftentimes he will welter and wallow in the mire, confessing … what sinnes … he hath committed.
1641. Milton, Church Govt., II. 63. Such principles of earth as these wherein she [Prelaty, bred up in slime and mud] welters from a yong one.
1706. trans. Liger’s Compl. Florist, 167. Fowls are apt, after a great Drought, to welter in the Ground, or Dust, to cleanse their Feathers and Wings.
a. 1732. T. Boston, Crook in Lot (1805), 110. Man threw himself into the mire at first, and now he is justly left weltering in it.
c. To roll or lie prostrate (in one’s blood); hence (hyperbolically) to be soaked with blood or gore; also fig. of a nation, etc. Now only poet.
1590. Greene, Orl Fur. (1599), 10. Till all these Princes weltring in their bloods, The Crowne doe fall to Countie Sacrepant.
a. 1593. Marlowe, Edw. II., II. v. 1181. Vpon my weapons point here shouldst thou fall, And welter in thy goare.
1643. Decl. Commons Reb. Ireland, 26. Two Protestant Nations [were] ready to welter in each others blood.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, XI. 1218. Prostrate on the Plain, Welt’ring in Blood, she sees Camilla slain.
1744. P. Whitehead, Gymnasiad, III. 73.
| Down dropt the Hero, welt’ring in his Gore, | |
| And his stretch’d Limbs lay quiv’ring on the Floor. |
1783. Justamond, trans. Raynal’s Hist. Indies, I. 252. Three successive generations were dooined to welter in their own blood.
1803. Ann. Reg., Chron., 4/2. The deceased … was weltering in his blood, and bore every indication of having been robbed as well as murdered.
1849. D. G. Mitchell, Battle Summer (1852), 35. They lie—the fifty corpses—weltering in their blood.
1887. Bowen, Æneid, II. 667. Slaughtered, and weltering each in the blood from the others that flows.
2. fig. † a. To revel, live at ease. Obs. rare.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4503. Man þat weltres in his welis And, thoru his welth, na fautes felis.
1581. Mulcaster, Positions, xxxvi. (1887), 140. The midle sorte of parentes which neither welter in to much wealth, nor wrastle with to much want.
b. = WALLOW v.1 6. Now rare.
1535. Coverdale, Eccl. xxiii. 12. But they yt feare God, eschue all soch and lye not weltringe in synne.
1561. Daus, trans. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573), 13 b. Who in the meane tyme swell with pride, and welter away in filthy pleasures.
1577–87. Holinshed, Chron., I. 12/2. He suffered his owne bodie to welter in all vice and voluptuousnesse.
1611. Speed, Hist. Gt. Brit., VII. i. 192. Numbers of them lay senslesse and weltring in wine.
1646. H. P., Medit. Seige, 7. Luxury … in which thou hast weltred with securitie.
1867. Tennyson, Holy Grail, 767. Happier are those that welter in their sin.
c. To be sunk or deeply involved in.
1629. J. Cole, Of Death, 192. Let us then no longer lye weltring in sorrow, lest by overlong lamenting wee encrease Gods wrath.
1642. Prynne, Sov. Antidote, Pref. To make England in the selfesame desperate deplorable condition, as Ireland now lies weltring in.
1642. D. Rogers, Naaman, 16. Suffers them to welter in their fears, doubts and complaints.
1856. Merivale, Rom. Emp., l. (1865), VI. 153. We seem, indeed, in perusing the narrative before us, to be weltering in a dream of horrors.
a. 1871. R. Chambers, in Casq. Lit. (1874), Ser. II. I. 264. They … leave you weltering in astonishment.
d. transf. of inanimate things.
1847. Kingsley, Poems, Sappho, 4. Upon the white horizon Atho’s peak Weltered in burning haze.
a. 1849. Bryant, Hymn of Sea, 42. The fertile plain Welters in shallows.
3. Of a ship: To roll to and fro (on the waves). Also fig. Cf. WALTER v. 1 b.
1423. James I., Kingis Q., xxiv. We pullit vp saile, and furth oure wayis went. Vpon the wawis weltering to and fro.
1609. Healey, Discov. New World, I. II. vii. 92. But our boat … did so welter from side to side.
1822–56. De Quincey, Confess., Wks. (1856), V. 266. My mind tossed, as it seemed, upon the billowy ocean, and weltered upon the weltering waves.
1876. J. Saunders, Lion in Path, ix. The soldier’s barque was weltering aimlessly, helplessly, hopelessly upon the waves.
1876. Morris, Sigurd, IV. 350. The keels roll down the sea-dale, and welter up the steep.
b. Of a dead body: To be tossed or tumbled about (on the waves); to roll or tumble about (in water). Also fig.
1593. Nashe, Christ’s T., 14. All the sinnes of the first World now welter, souse, & beate vnquietly in the Sea.
1637. Milton, Lycidas, 13. He must not flote upon his watry bear Unwept, and welter to the parching wind.
1718. Pope, Odyss., XIV. 155. But he whose name you crave Moulders in earth, or welters on the wave.
1791. Cowper, Odyss., III. 115. Whether he on the continent hath fall’n By hostile hands, or by the waves o’erwhelm’d Of Amphitrite, welters in the Deep.
1806. Scott, Poems, Palmer, 40. A corpse amid the alders rank, The Palmer welter’d there.
1823. S. Rogers, Italy, XXI. Campagna of Florence, 149. Arno,… where, exulting, he had felt A swimmer’s transport, there, alas, to float And welter.
4. To roll down in a stream; to flow.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xlii. (Agatha), 306. A gret hyl … brak owt in fyre & brynt don, weltrand, as a borne had bene.
1508. Dunbar, Tua Mariit Wemen, 439. With that wateris myn ene, and welteris doune teris.
1835. Lytton, Rienzi, I. xii. From the left arm … the blood weltered slowly.
1846. Keble, Lyra Innoc., Sleeping on Waters, 44. And Nile, soft weltering nigh, Sings him to sleep. Ibid., Bathing, 2. Around the rushy point comes weltering slow The brimming stream.
† b. To flutter (down). rare–1.
c. 1470. Golagros & Gaw., 290. [It] sall be licht as leif of the lynd lest, That welteris doun with the wynd, sa wauerand it is.
5. Of waves, the water, sea: To roll; to toss and tumble; to surge. Also fig. Now only poet.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, III. 700. The strem sa sturdy was, That wawys wyd (that) brekand war Weltryt as hillys her and thar.
c. 1480. Henryson, Paddock & Mouse, 179. The watter is the warld, ay welterand With mony wall of trubulatioun.
1581. A. Hall, Iliad, II. 23. As oft the seas we see The storme the boistrous surge to raise, weltring now low now hie.
1787–9. Wordsw., Evening Walk, 122. There, waves that, hardly weltering, die away, Tip their smooth ridges with a softer ray.
1816. J. Wilson, City of Plague, II. i. 203. The sea that welters drearily Around the homeless earth!
1821. Bryant, Ages, xviii. Till the North broke its flood-gates, and the waves Whelmed the degraded race, and weltered o’er their graves.
1865. Swinburne, Poems & B., Song in Time of Order, 7. It swells and welters and swings, The pulse of the tide of the sea.
b. transf. Of a mass of persons or things: To be in a state of agitation, turmoil or confusion.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., III. I. i. When a Nation … must now seek its wild way through the New, Chaotic,—where Force is not yet distinguished into Bidden and Forbidden, but Crime and Virtue welter unseparated.
1848. Kingsley, Saint’s Trag., II. iv. We sit in a cloud … while right below Welters the black fermenting heap of life On which our state is built. Ibid. (1853), Hypatia, xxix. The mob had weltered and howled ineffectually around the house for some half-hour.
1889. J. K. Jerome, Idle Thoughts, 128. Huddled like vermin in sewers, they welter, and sicken, and sleep.
1897. ‘Mark Twain,’ Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg, etc. (1900), 317. The whole Left was surging and weltering about the champion, all bent upon wringing his hand and congratulating him and glorifying him.
6. † a. Of a vehicle: To sway or rock unsteadily; to overturn. Obs. rare.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XI. 25. A litill stane oft, as men sayis, May ger weltir ane mekill wane.
1535. Coverdale, Nahum ii. 4. The charettes rolle vpon the stretes, & welter in the hye wayes.
b. To go with a heavy rolling gait; to flounder. Also dial., to reel, stagger.
1595. R. Johnson, Seven Champions, II. (1608), 52. Oh that some ravenous harpey woulde welter from his denne.
1674–91. Ray, N. C. Words, Welter, to goe aside, or heavily, as women with child, or fat people.
1785. Bran New Wark (E.D.S.) 188. Should a kraken welter up the sands … ye mud weel be astonished.
1822. Scott, Pirate, xvii. [The whale] was lying perfectly still, in a deep part of the voe into which it had weltered.
1851. Mayne Reid, Scalp Hunt., xli. 324. With desperate energy I plunged and weltered through it [the water].
1884. D. Grant, Lays & Leg. North, 75. [She] Weltered hame through bogs an’ hillocks Aifter mony a weary fa’.
fig. 1837. Carlyle, New Lett. (1904), I. 70. On the eighth day after this I am to make my appearance as a Lecturer!… Some way or other we shall ‘welter through it.’
II. trans. † 7. To move, turn or force by rolling. Obs.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 1140. Ȝitt es þe warlow so wyghte, he welters hyme vndere.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, VI. ix. 183. For sum weltris a gret stane wp the bra.
1520. M. Nisbet, N. T. Scots, Matt. xxvii. 60. He weltirit a gret staan to the dure of the beriele.
1535. Coverdale, Prov. xxvi. 27. And he yt weltreth a stone, shal stomble vpon it hymselfe.
refl. 1535. Coverdale, Prov. xxvi. 14. Like as the dore turneth aboute vpon the tresholde, euen so doth the slouthfull welter himself in his bedd. Ibid., Micah i. 10. Thou at Betaphra, welter thy self in the dust and asshes.
† b. In pa. pple. with in. Obs. (Cf. 1 b, 2 b.)
1535. Coverdale, Judith xiv. 15. Then sawe he the deed body of Holofernes…, weltred in his bloude vpon the earth.
1578. Banister, Hist. Man, VIII. 110. In whiche absurditie many are weltred.
1632. J. Hayward, trans. Biondi’s Eromena, 30. Foure bodies lying welured in bloud.
1652. [F. Osborne], A Perswasive to Compliance, 26. Christian Princes, who are now so weltered in their own blood.
1673. Hickeringill, Greg. F. Greyb., 257. England, as well as other Countries, has been disciplin’d, ’till weltred in blood and ruine.
† 8. To cause to roll; to toss up and down. Obs.
c. 1425. Macro Plays, Cast. Persev., 2003. Byttyr balys þei [his enemies] brekyn on brode, Mankynde in wo to weltyr & waue.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, III. iii. 90. The wyndis welteris the see continually.
a. 1547. Surrey, Æneid, II. 536. Fomy Nereus … From bottoms depth doth weltre up the seas.
1594. Marlowe & Nashe, Dido, I. i. 223. And they so wrackt and weltred by the waues, As euery tide tilts twixt their oken sides.
9. To overthrow, overturn, upset: also with down. Chiefly Sc.
c. 1450. Gol. & Gaw., 469. Wrightis welterand doune treis.
c. 1480. Henryson, Test. Cresseid, 436. All is decayit, thy weird is welterit so.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, VII. xi. 51. This cruell dochtyr of the auld Saturn The marbyll hyrst can weltyr and ourturn.
1571. [see WALTER v.1 7].
a. 1663. Sanderson, Serm. (1681), II. 257. Were it but an ox, or an ass … that lay weltred in a ditch.
1808. Jamieson, s.v., To welter a cart, to turn it upside down.
† 10. To wear out (one’s days) in a state of trouble or disquiet. Obs.–1
1642. D. Rogers, Naaman, 138. They returne to their old acquaintance with selfe, and so welter out their daies in utter misery.
Hence Weltered ppl. a.
1590. T. Watson, Meliboeus, Poems (Arb.), 175. Castor and Pollux,… two welcome messengers, Conuey great comfort to the weltred minde.
