▪ I. whelm, n.
(hwɛlm)
Also 6 whealme, 6–7 whelme.
[f. whelm v.]
1. A wooden drain-pipe: orig. a tree-trunk halved vertically, hollowed, and ‘whelmed down’ or turned with the concavity downwards to form an arched watercourse. Now dial.
| c 1576 in Catal. Archives All Souls' Coll. (1877) 37 Quidam truncus vocatus a whelme. 1584 Crt.-roll Wormingford, Essex (MS.), Cursus aquae vocat. The whealme est in decasu. 1613 Ibid., [To place] sufficientem truncam (Anglicè a whelme) in regia via. 1797 A. Young Agric. Suffolk 157, I strongly recommend these carrier ditches to be open, though at the expence of a whelm at the bottom of a field where a cart-way is necessary. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 478. |
2. The overwhelming surge of waters. poet.
| 1842 Blackw. Mag. LII. 287 Dark yawn'd a cleft in the midst of the whelm. 1888 Swinburne Armada vi. iii. Poems 1904 III. 203 They sink in the whelm of the waters. |
▪ II. whelm, v.
(hwɛlm)
Forms: 3–5 quelm, 4 welme, 4–7 whelme, 5–6 Sc. quhelm, 8–9 'whelm, 5– whelm; 9 dial. whalm, whawm, welm. Also whemmel.
[? representing OE. *hwelman, parallel to *hwelfan whelve.]
† 1. intr. To overturn, capsize. Obs.
In second quot. perh. pass. of sense 4.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 24862 Þaa sori loked ai sua for-suonken, Quen þe scip suld quelm and drunken. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vii. (1811) 599 By the mysgydynge of the sterysman, he was set vpon the pylys of the brydge, and the barge whelmyd. |
2. trans. To turn (a hollow vessel) upside down, or over or upon something so as to cover it; to turn with the concave side downwards. Now dial.
| c 1340 Nominale (Skeat) 360 Apres beyuer hanap endente, welme the cuppe. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 524/1 Whelmyn a vessel, suppino. 14.. Med. Receipts in MS. Lincoln A. i. 17, lf. 285 (Halliw.) Tak a bryghte bacyne, and anoynte it with mylke reme, and whelme it over a prene. 1513 Douglas æneis v. xii. 18 And, with that word, his helm Befoir thair feit all void down did he quhelm. 1530 Palsgr. 780/2 Whelme a platter upon it, to save it from flyes. 1590 Lucar Lucarsolace iv. i. 147 Whelme a new elme bole in the bottome of the said hole. 1604 N. F. Fruit. Secr. 18 Whelme downe the maunds, emptying them gently, into small baskets. 1618 Bolton Florus (1636) 201 The barbarous whelmed their shields over their heads. 1643 Lightfoot Glean. Ex. (1648) 47 On the top..lay a golden dish whelmed downe. 1657 S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. 178 A tub..which as soon as you have emptied, suddenly whelm it upside down. 1687 Settle Refl. Dryden 2 That the Earth is like a Trencher, and the Heavens a Dish whelmed over it. 1712 Phil. Trans. XXVIII. 254 It was found with the Mouth whelm'd downward. 1796 Troutbeck Scilly Isl. 171 Their ovens are large iron pots which they whelm over things to be baked, upon heated iron plates. 1842 Florist's Jrnl. (1846) III. 24 Pansies that were planted out in the autumn, should be protected by whelming a small pot over each plant. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. s.v., Whelm that dish over them currants. |
† b. gen. To turn downwards: in quots. with reference to Fortune's wheel. Obs.
| c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 1225 Quhan on-fortone quhelmys the quheil. 1532 Chaucer's Wks., Troylus i. 139 And thus Fortune a lofte And vnder efte gan hem to whelmen [MSS. whielen, weyle(n] bothe. |
† c. To cover (a thing) by turning a vessel, etc. upside down over it. Obs.
| a 1400–50 Bk. Curtasye 703 in Babees Bk., A qwyte cuppe of tre þer-by shalle be, Þer-with þo water assay schalle he; Quelmes hit agayn by-fore alle men. 1532 Tindale Expos. Matt. v. (c 1550) 24 b, As men lyghte no candle to whelme it vnder a bushell. a 1651 Gataker Parker in Fuller Abel Rediv. 524 Those that are wont to wrap up their talent in a towell, and whelm their light under a bushell. |
d. To throw (something) over violently or in a heap upon something else, esp. so as to cover or to crush or smother it.
| 1624 Donne Serm. xix. (1640) 185 Hill upon hill whelmed upon it. 1637 J. Pocklington Altare Christianum 96 This Milstone of a consequence the Author has whelmed upon himselfe. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 166 Fig. 3. is to be whelmed upon Fig. 2. so that A. in Fig. 3. touch A. in Fig. 2. 1752 Young Brothers i. i, Not seals of adamant, not mountains whelm'd On guilty secrets, can exclude the day. 1888 Sheffield Gloss. s.v. Whawm, Whawm that cloth over that pancheon. 1894 Blackmore Perlycross vi, With..a broad hat whelmed down upon his hairless white face. |
† e. To turn over (soil, etc.) so as to expose the under parts. Also absol. Obs.
| 1652 W. Blithe Eng. Improver Impr. xxviii. 193 The phin made broad, descending or whelming to the right hand. 1759 Mills tr. Duhamel's Husb. i. ix. 49 In this plough, the place of breast-board must be supplied by an iron plate, which..is..carried back, and gradually brought to whelm, as if it would fall upon the furrow. 1795 Vancouver Agric. Essex 180 To bury every weed by whelming the slice or furrow completely over. |
† 3. intr. (poet.) To come or pass over something so as to cover it. Obs.
| c 1440 Bone Flor. 683 Garcy hyt Otes on the helme, That upon hys hedd hyt can whelme. 1690 Dryden Don Sebastian i. i, The Waves whelm'd over him. 1697 ― æneis ix. 725 The Tow'r that follow'd on the fallen Crew, Whelm'd o're their Heads, and bury'd whom it slew. 1700 Blackmore Job 98 Dismal floods of grief whelm o'er thy head. |
4. trans. a. To cover completely with water or other fluid so as to ruin or destroy; to submerge, drown; occas. to sink (a boat).
| 1555 T. Phaer æneid. i. (1558) A ij, Let out thy windes & all their ships do drown w{supt} waters wylde, Disperse them all to sondrie shores or whelme them downe w{supt} deepe. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 143 Giue fire: she is my prize, or Ocean whelme them all. 1697 Dryden æneis vi. 455 He saw his Friends, who whelm'd beneath the Waves, Their Fun'ral Honours claim'd. 1725 Pope Odyss. iv. 658 Whelm'd in the bottom of the monstrous deep. 1818 Scott Battle of Sempach xxxvi, He 'whelmed the boat, and as they strove, He stunn'd them with his oar. 1830 Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 295 Marsh land..has at last been over⁓flowed, and thousands of the inhabitants whelmed in the waves. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars ii. 105 Flocks, and herds, and corn and hay being whelmed in the deluge. |
b. To bury under a load of earth, snow, or the like.
| 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions i. iii. 35 So whelmed in sande and grauell, that there is nothing but mere barreinesse. 1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus X iv, Whelmed be the World with fire and brimstone, that [etc.]. 1601 Holland Pliny xxxii. vi. II. 437 To coole oisters forsooth, they must needs whelme and cover them all over with snow. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xiii. §60. 601 A couragious Esquier of Yorkeshire, whom the sodaine ruine of a Tower..whelmed and slew outright. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. xiii. 32 The Pancreas doth lie out of the reach of Medicaments, being deeply whelmed among the Bowels. 1793– Aikin & Mrs. Barbauld Even. at Home (1805) IV. 3 He..dug over the whole bed, and whelmed all the relics of his flowers deep under the soil. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Jan. 52 A size of furrow-slice is raised sufficient to overlap or whelm up all the weeds. 1883 R. Broughton Belinda ii. viii, A day that wrecks ships by fleets;..that whelms trains in snowdrifts. |
5. transf. To engulf or bear down like a flood, storm, avalanche, etc.; hence, to involve in destruction or ruin. a. in material sense.
| 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 141 Who..with solitarie hand..at one blow Unaided could have finisht thee, and whelmd Thy Legions under darkness. 1740 Dyer Ruins Rome 529 The Goth and Vandal..Rush, as the Breach of waters, whelming all Their Domes. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam vi. vi, The files compact Whelmed me. 1847 Tennyson Princess Prol. 45 Some were whelm'd with missiles of the wall. 1864 ― En. Ard. 668 Where either haven open'd on the deeps, Roll'd a sea-haze and whelm'd the world in gray. 1883 Fortn. Rev. Feb. 162 The wind that would whelm the wilderness. |
b. in immaterial sense.
| 1553 Primer Edw. VI, Prayer for ryche menne, Lustes, whyche whelme men into perdicion and destruction. 1571 Golding Calvin on Ps. xliii. 2 The light of lyfe driueth away the mist vnder which wee were whelmed in heauinesse. 1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence, Andria v. iv, My minde is so whelmed with feare, hope, ioy. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. ii. 265, I lay buryed and whelmed-over head and eares in a well of miseries. 1791 Cowper Iliad ii. 204 Sorrow whelm'd his soul. 1832 Campbell Ode to Germans ii, And the tyrants now that whelm Half the world shall quail and flee. 1860 J. P. Kennedy Life W. Wirt I. xx. 302 Many other ladies were also whelmed in this awful catastrophe. 1891 A. P. Peabody King's Chapel Serm., Acts xiv. 11. 138 Christ..whelmed with his forgiving love the penitent who wept at his feet. |
Hence whelmed ppl. a., ˈwhelming vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1819 Keats Otho i. i, In my grave, Or side by side with *'whelmed mariners. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 145 A common saucer and whelmed pot. 1898 Meredith Odes Fr. Hist. 75 These tortures to distract her [sc. France] underneath Her whelmed Aurora's shade. |
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 524/1 *Whelmynge, suppinacio. 1670 Ray Prov. 282 (Scott. Prov.) If I can get his cairt at a whelming [1678, p. 379 at a wolter], I shall lend it a put. |
| 1637 Milton Lycidas 157 Under the *whelming tide. 1652 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. xxviii. 194 The Coumb or Wing so fixed..to the Share, with its true whelming, hollow, cross winding, compass, just answring the cast or turn of the Furrow. 1658 W. Burton Itin. Antonin. 92 The all-whelming deluge of Time. 1725 Pope Odyss. i. 210 Doom'd to welter in the whelming main. 1792 Wordsw. Descrip. Sketches 207 By Him who saves Alike in whelming snows and roaring winds. 1799 Cowper Castaway 13 Not long beneath the whelming brine, Expert to swim, he lay. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. cxviii, If he may live for joys or sink in 'whelming pain. 1861 A. Beresford-Hope Eng. Cathedr. 19th C. 166 At a crisis of growing darkness and whelming confusion. 1891 Atkinson Last of Giant-Killers 145 Hidden by a whelming mass shot down from the hill above. |
▪ III. whelm
variant of walm v. Obs.