swelter

[swel-ter]

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verb (used without object)

to suffer from oppressive heat.

verb (used with object)

to oppress with heat.

Archaic. to exude, as venom.

noun

a sweltering condition.

Origin of swelter

1375–1425; late Middle English swelt(e)ren (v.), equivalent to swelt(en) to be overcome with heat (Old English sweltan to die; cognate with Old Norse svelta, Gothic swiltan) + -eren -er⁶

Related formsun·swel·tered, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for swelter

wilt, broil, sweat, languish, roast, perspire, fry, boil, burn, heat, wallow, suffocate, stew, fret

Examples from the Web for swelter

Contemporary Examples of swelter

There no longer is anywhere to hide from the swelter and welter of the American id.
Drug-Resistant Gonorrhea, the ‘Sex Superbug,’ Is Not Worse Than AIDS
Kent Sepkowitz
May 7, 2013

Historical Examples of swelter

The beat of the sun from above and the swelter of dust from below were overpowering.
The Great Boer War
Arthur Conan Doyle
The city, hot as an oven, seemed to swelter in the stifling night.
The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Vol. 6
Guy de Maupassant
"But in hot weather like this it must make you swelter," continued Elmer.
Endurance Test
Alan Douglas
How far away now seems the welter and swelter of the city, the hectic sophistication of the streets.
Ballads of a Bohemian
Robert W. Service
The poor children have to swelter in knitted socks, knitted hoods, and knitted sweaters, just because they come from America.
The Spell of the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines
Isabel Anderson

British Dictionary definitions for swelter

swelter

verb

(intr) to suffer under oppressive heat, esp to sweat and feel faint

(tr) archaic to exude (venom)

(tr) rare to cause to suffer under oppressive heat

noun

a sweltering condition (esp in the phrase in a swelter)

oppressive humid heat

Word Origin for swelter

C15 swelten, from Old English sweltan to die; related to Old Norse svelta to starve, Old High German swelzan to burn with passion; see sultry

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for swelter

c.1400, frequentative of swelten "be faint (especially with heat)," late 14c., from Old English sweltan "to die," from Proto-Germanic *swel- (cf. Old Saxon sweltan "to die," Old Norse svelta "to put to death, starve," Gothic sviltan "to die"), originally "to burn slowly," hence "to be overcome with heat or fever;" also the source of Old English swelan "to burn," from PIE root *swel- (2) "to shine, beam" (see Selene). For specialization of words meaning "to die," cf. starve. Related: Sweltered; sweltering.