whelm
Americanverb (used with object)
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to submerge; engulf.
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to overcome utterly; overwhelm.
whelmed by misfortune.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to engulf entirely with or as if with water
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another word for overwhelm
Etymology
Origin of whelm
First recorded in 1250–1300; from Middle English whelme, apparently blend of dialectal whelve, from Old English gehwelfan “to bend over,” and helm 2 (verb), from Old English helmian “to cover”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
You almost wish that the book would occasionally simply whelm you, but of course that’s all that most books do, even good books.
From Slate • Jan. 29, 2020
In it his flair for the spectacular, the mod and the grotesque is overwhelming, in ways that admittedly may whelm some more than others.
From Time Magazine Archive
Now we wait simply for Engagement, & hear continual Word that Gen. Gage shall march from out the Town and try to whelm us all.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
Unskilful he to note the card Of prudent lore, Till billows rage, and gales blow hard And whelm him o’er!
From Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 7 by Sylvester, Charles Herbert
She submits with a shudder—she weeps—" "That a Frank should be ready to subjugate us and whelm us with misery we can understand: he is a conqueror who abuses his power.
From The Poniard's Hilt Or Karadeucq and Ronan. A Tale of Bagauders and Vagres by Sue, Eugène
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
