▪ I. † ˈwalter, n. Obs.
Also Sc. 6 volter, woltir, 6–7 wolter.
[f. walter v.1 Cf. welter n.]
1. The rolling of the sea in a storm.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 3699 So þe bre and the brethe burbelit to gedur, þat hit spirit vp spitiously fyue speire lenght With walter and wawes. |
2. The act of wallowing (in mire); in quot. concr., a wallowing-place.
| 1577 J. Knewstub Confut. (1579) To Rdr. **1 The Lord..reuengeth the shameful contempt and neglect of his truth: by sending numbers to their stie or walter againe. |
3. An upset, upheaval, overthrow. lit. and fig.
| 1563 Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 49, I began nocht litill to merwel at sa haisty and sa subdane a wolter of this warlde in sa mony grete materis. 1563 Randolph Let. to Cecil 10 Apr. in Cal. Scott. Papers II. 5 Yf ther come such a volter in thys realme, that ever that man come agayne into credyt. 1596 Dalrymple Leslie's Hist. Scot. II. 221 He spak mekle of the Woltir of the religioune [L. de religione apud nos evertenda]. 1678 Ray Prov. (ed. 2) 379 (Scott. Prov.) If I can get his cart at a wolter [1670, p. 282 at a whelming], I shall lend it a put. |
▪ II. walter, v.1 Obs. exc. dial.
(ˈwɒltə(r))
Forms: 4–6 waltre, 4–7, 9 dial. walter, 5 waltyr, 6 waulter, -tre, Sc. woltre, valter, 6 Sc., 8–9 dial. wolter.
[Freq. of walt v.: see -er5. Cf. welter v.]
I. Intransitive senses.
1. To roll to and fro, move from side to side; to tumble or toss about; to lie sprawling on the ground, in mire, etc.
| c 1400 tr. Higden (Rolls) VII. 203 He feled a þing þat was myȝti and þicke waltre and turne atwixe hym and his wif. c 1400 Sege Jerus. 735 Litel he slepiþ, Bot walwyþ & wyndiþ & waltreþ a-boute. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xiii. 236 [She] lyys walteryng..by the fyere. 1529 [see tolter v.]. 1530 Palsgr. 771/1, I walter, I tumble. Je me voystre. Hye you, your horse is walterynge yonder, he wyll breake his saddell but more happe be. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 565 So greit terrour in his mynd he tuke, That all that nycht he wolterit and he woik. 1568 Withals Dict. 10 b/2 Voluto, to turne or walter in myre as hogges doe. 1580 Blundevil Curing Horses Dis. xcii. 41 b, The horse will forsake his meate, and lie downe and wallow, and walter vpon the ground. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1276 Sardanapalus..tumbling and lying along, waltring among a sort of concubines. 1692 Ray Disc. ii. ii. (1693) 87 The Globe cannot walter or reel towards any side. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Walter, wolter, to roll and twist about on the ground; as corn laid by the wind and rain; or as one who is rolled in the mire. 1880 Antrim & Down Gloss. s.v., ‘The potatoes lie down and walter on the ground’, i.e. they remain lying. |
b. Of a ship: To roll or be tossed on the waves.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 415 Hit waltered on þe wylde flod, went as hit lyste. 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 18 Upon the sey thay sufferit great perrell,..Walterand with wind out throw þe mudy wawis. |
c. Of the stomach: To be upset or disturbed.
| 1540 J. Heywood Four PP. 600 It..maketh your stomake sore to walter. |
2. fig. To wallow or revel in (prosperity, pleasure, sin).
| c 1375 Cursor M. 4503 (Fairf.) Man þat walteres [Cott. weltres] in his welis. 1528 Roy Rede me (Arb.) 62 They are..lyke to brut beastes and swyne, Waltrynge in synfull wretchednes. 1553 Bradford Serm. Repent. (1574) H ij b, Trow you that such a one..wyl willingly walter & wallow in his wylful lusts, pleasure, and fantasies? a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 76 If a man..walter in filthines like a Swyne. a 1598 Rollock Serm. xi. (1616) 208 The naturall man waltering and wallowing in sinne. |
3. To swing or float to and fro. Also fig.
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 947 Þou waltres al in a weih & wel y vnderstande whider þe belaunce bremliest bouwes al-gate. c 1425 Cast. Persev. 2663 in Macro Plays 156 Nedys, my loue must on hym lende, With Coueytyse to walter & wave. c 1520 Skelton Magnyf. 1936 And some I make in a rope to totter and walter. c 1555 ? Coverdale Carrying Christ's Cross iii. 29 The aungels gatheryng together y⊇ wicked wretches (which now walter and walowe as the worlde and wynde bloweth) to be tyed in bondels, and cast into the fier. 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 44 He signifyis a mannis persoun, That walteris betuix wynde and waw Into this warld ay vp and doun. |
4. To move or go unsteadily; to totter, stumble. Also, to go with a rolling gait, to waddle.
| 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles ii 189 So lymed leues were leyde all aboute,..þat where so þey walkid, þey waltrid dounwardis. 1480 Caxton Ovid's Met. xi. ii, He [Silenus] was, att that tyme, in Frygye, waltrynge and swaruyng what of wyn and of age. 1577 Dee Relat. Spir. i. (1659) 186 [An adder and her young] She..suffereth them to hang upon her back, and so waltereth to her hole. 1703 Thoresby Let. to Ray, Wolter, as welter [‘to goe aside, or heavily, as Women with Child, or Fat People’ (Ray 1691)]. |
5. Of waves: To surge or roll high. Of water, etc.: To flow, gush. Of a humour: To wander or ooze about the body.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 142 Þe wawes ful wode waltered so hiȝe. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 684 Wel much was þe warme water þat waltered of yȝen. 1555 T. Phaer æneid ii. (1558) E ij, The fomy floud..waltring down the vales. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 23 The unnaturall or evell sweate is it that..waltereth only about the harte. Ibid. 36 Somtyme growe apostemes in the loynes of humors that are waltering and straying in the body. 1577 J. Bishop Beautif. Blossoms xvii. 84 Streames of teares waltering downe his cheekes. |
II. Transitive senses.
6. To roll about, toss to and fro. Also fig. Also refl., to sprawl or wallow (on the ground, in the mire, etc.).
| c 1375 Cursor M. 21113 Quik þai haue his bodi flaine & waltered him in barli chaf. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 204 And he [sc. the demoniac], cast doun in þe erþe, was waltrid and froþid [Vulg. Mark ix. 19 volutabatur spumans]. c 1400 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) ii, Þei smyteth þe grounde with the foote and walters hem as an horse. c 1450 Cov. Myst. 342 The fete..ar ful wete, Walterid in blood. 1508 Fisher Penit. Ps. Wks. (1876) 204 Euen as an hors the softer myre or claye he waltreth hymselfe in the more easely he lyeth. Ibid. 358 The Sowe..waultering hir self in the myerie puddle. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 23 Quhill the cuntrie was walterit to and fra in this maner. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 92 In seas far waltred, he groyleth. |
7. To overturn, overthrow.
| 1571 Sir J. Maitland in Satir. Poems. Reform. xxvii. 71 Bewar! we may be walteritt [v.rr. weltred, wolterit] or we witt, And lykwayis Loss our land and libertie. |
8. dial. uses (see quots.).
| a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Walter, Wolter, to cause extreme fatigue... ‘I am right-on woltered out, by my day's work’. 1880 Antrim & Down Gloss., Walthered, mired or stuck in a boggy road, or swampy place. ‘Whiles in the mornin' I find the branches of the trees all walthered and smashed’, broken down into the mire. |
Hence ˈwaltering vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 247 A wylde walterande whal..bi þat bot flotte. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. iii. viii, Innumerabill folk I saw flotterand in feir, Quhilk pereist on the walterand wallis weir. 1528 Lyndesay Dreme 128 Quhare I mycht se The woltryng [v.r. waltreyng] of the wallis vp and doun. a 1547 Surrey æneid ii. 267 Whoes waltring tongs did lick their hissing mouthes. 1552 Huloet, Waltrynge or full of wallowynge, volutabundus. c 1557 Abp. Parker Ps. xxxvi. 99 So pride hath hym puft by his waltering wealth. 1578 H. Wotton Courtlie Controv. 44 As a man dizzie with the waltering of a vessel, tossed by the hollowe waues of raging seas. 1588 T. Hughes Misfort. Arthur iii. Chor. 42 The windes, that sweepe the waltering waues. |
▪ III. † ˈwalter, v.2 Sc. Obs. rare—1.
trans. To be without, lack.
| 1463 Burgh Rec. Edin. (1869) I. 21 The said Johne [sall remane] at the hous of the said myln and vesy thame daylie at thai walter nocht na behuifull thing to thame that he aucht to find, and gif at thai walter acht in his default, sa that thairthrow the myle be ydill [etc.]. |
▪ IV. walter
obs. form of water.