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- In contemporary English, according to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.), the word “whelm” means to submerge or overwhelm. Oxford Dictionaries online offers this example of “whelm” used in the sense of submerge: “a swimmer whelmed in a raging storm.”
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Whelm is labeled as "archaic" in NOAD, as it has fallen out of use. Left in its wake are the would-be superlative overwhelm (which, rather than actually meaning "more than whelmed", has simply taken over its parent's definition) and its opposite underwhelm .
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Does Whelm mean overwhelm?
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Is “Whelm” a verb?
Nov 5, 2014 · In recent years, I’ve been hearing “underwhelm” used in a sarcastic tone. Was “whelm” ever a verb? A: Yes, “whelm” was—and still is—a verb. Though it’s not overwhelmingly popular today, “whelm” is a fine old word with roots that may go back to Anglo-Saxon times.
The meaning of WHELM is to turn (something, such as a dish or vessel) upside down usually to cover something : cover or engulf completely with usually disastrous effect. How to use whelm in a sentence.
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Whelm is a derived term of overwhelm. As verbs the difference between overwhelm and whelm is that overwhelm is to engulf, surge over and submerge while whelm is to cover; to submerge; to engulf; to bury.
whelm verb (AFFECT) [ T ] humorous. to have an effect on someone, usually not a very positive or very negative one: His latest album whelms rather than overwhelms. I was only whelmed by the movie, I have to say. Compare.
Does such a word exist and, if so, what does it mean? The Oxford definition of overwhelm is as follows : verb 1. submerge beneath a huge mass. 2. defeat completely; overpower. 3. have a strong emotional effect on. (ORIGIN from archaic whelm ‘engulf or submerge’, from Old English.)
Oct 4, 2022 · Once you know that whelm means “engulf,” it’s hard to look past the fact that overwhelm basically means “to double drown” or “to inundate and then inundate again.” Overwhelm is an example of pleonasm — a tautological phrase that includes two words that mean the same thing.
