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- [ I or T ] old use literary (of water) to flow, or to flow over and cover something or someone : The flowers bloomed and the brook whelmed up from its source. the whelming waters / waves The ocean whelmed them all. Fewer examples Rocked by the waves, the boat was whelmed. They charted the dangerous paths of the whelming ocean.
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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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What does Whelm mean?
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When was Whelm first used?
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.
There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun whelm. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
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Jun 5, 2018 · "to call or summon forth or out," 1620s, from French évoquer or directly from Latin evocare "call out, rouse, summon," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex-) + vocare "to call," which is related to vox (genitive vocis) "voice" (from PIE root *wekw- "to speak").
Whelm definition: to submerge; engulf.. See examples of WHELM used in a sentence.
Jun 2, 2024 · whelm (third-person singular simple present whelms, present participle whelming, simple past and past participle whelmed) (transitive, archaic) To bury, to cover; to engulf, to submerge. Synonyms: overwhelm, (Britain dialectal, Scotland) whemmel. Antonym: unwhelm.
Origin of Whelm. From Middle English whelmen (“to turn over, capsize; make an arch cover; experience a reversal" ), akin to Middle English whelven (“to cover over, bury; invert; bring to ruin, to move by rolling" ), akin to Old English ahwelfan, ahwylfan (“to cast down, cover over" ), Old English helmian (“to cover" ), akin to Old Saxon ...