adj
Meaning 1
Heavyweight. (of horsemen)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- a welter race
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
welter
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈwɛltə/
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General-American: /ˈwɛltɚ/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɛltə(ɹ)
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CMU ARPABET: W EH1 L T ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
name
Meaning 2
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A general confusion or muddle, especially of a large number of items.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: bouillabaisse, bric-a-brac, catch-all, clamjamfrey, cocktail, rummage, salad, anthology, gallery, congeries, crazyquilt, disjecta membra, farrago, galimatias, gallimaufry, grab bag, hodgepodge, horse and rabbit stew, hotchpotch, hotchpot, job lot, jumble, macedoine, medley, melange, mingle-mangle, miscellanea, miscellany, mishmash, mixed bag, mixture, motley, odds and ends, oddments, olio, olla podrida, omnium-gatherum, pastiche, patchwork quilt, potpourri, ragbag, salmagundi, slurry, smorgasbord, welter, Whitman's sampler
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A tossing or rolling about.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To roll around; to wallow.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To revel, luxuriate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, intransitive
Examples
- 1537, Hugh Latimer, Sermon III, Preached to the Convocation of the Clergy, in The Sermons of Hugh Latimer, London: J. Scott, 1783, Volume I, p. 38, When we welter in pleasures and idleness, then we eat and drink with drunkards.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
To rise and fall, to tumble over, to roll.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Qualifier: billows
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 8
To wither; to wilt.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- 1860, Isaac Taylor, Ultimate Civilization, and Other Essays, London: Bell & Dalday, “Ultimate Civilization,” Part I, IV, p. 40, But look now into the weltered hearts and blighted memories of those whom we have gathered from out of the thousands of the lost and wretched.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
a confused multitude of things
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: clutter, jumble, muddle, fuddle, mare's nest, smother
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: disorderliness, disorder
Narrower terms: rummage
verb
Meaning 10
be immersed in
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- welter in work
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 11
roll around,
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- pigs were wallowing in the mud
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: wallow
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: move
verb
Meaning 12
toss, roll, or rise and fall in an uncontrolled way
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- The shipwrecked survivors weltered in the sea for hours
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: roll over
History
Etymology
From Middle English welteren, equivalent to welt + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognates include German Low German weltern (“to wallow; roll”), Old Norse velta (Danish vælte), German wälzen, Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌻𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (waltjan). Akin to wallow and Latin volvō.
Compare wilt (intransitive verb).
Across languages
Translations
40 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- French: welter — of horsemen, heavyweight
- Polish: ciężki — of horsemen, heavyweight
- Bulgarian: суматоха (sumatoha) — general confusion or muddle
- Bulgarian: неразбория (nerazborija) — general confusion or muddle
- Czech: změť — general confusion or muddle
- Czech: chaos — general confusion or muddle
- Czech: zmatek — general confusion or muddle
- Galician: rebumbio — general confusion or muddle
- Galician: maraña — general confusion or muddle
- Galician: marfallada — general confusion or muddle
- German: Woge — general confusion or muddle
- German: Flut — general confusion or muddle
- German: Fülle — general confusion or muddle
- German: Unzahl — general confusion or muddle
- German: Durcheinander — general confusion or muddle
- German: Wirrwarr — general confusion or muddle
- Norwegian: virvar — general confusion or muddle
- Polish: bezład — general confusion or muddle
- Polish: chaos — general confusion or muddle
- Polish: zamieszanie — general confusion or muddle
- Polish: podrzucanie — tossing or rolling about
- Bulgarian: валям се (valjam se) — to roll around; to wallow
- Bulgarian: въргалям се (vǎrgaljam se) — to roll around; to wallow
- Czech: válet se — to roll around; to wallow
- Czech: vyvalovat se — to roll around; to wallow
- Czech: převalovat se — to roll around; to wallow
- German: sich wälzen — to roll around; to wallow
- German: sich herumwälzen — to roll around; to wallow
- German: sich suhlen — to roll around; to wallow
- Hungarian: fetreng — to roll around; to wallow
- Polish: taplać się — to roll around; to wallow
- Polish: tarzać się — to roll around; to wallow
- Polish: kotłować się — to roll around; to wallow
- Polish: pławić się — to roll around; to wallow
- German: schwelgen — to revel, luxuriate
- Polish: pławić się — to revel, luxuriate
- Czech: převalovat se — to rise and fall, to tumble over, to roll
- German: wogen — to rise and fall, to tumble over, to roll
- Polish: przewracać się — to rise and fall, to tumble over, to roll
- Polish: przewrócić się — to rise and fall, to tumble over, to roll