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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 .
Nov 5, 2014 · 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.”.
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.
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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.
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.
What does the verb overwhelm mean? There are nine meanings listed in OED's entry for the verb overwhelm , five of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
Overwhelm most commonly means to cause to be overcome with emotion as a result of an amount of something (work, stress, etc.) that’s just too much to handle. (It can also mean to overpower or physically cover beneath a mass of something).
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