WELTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does welter mean? 

• WELTER (noun)
  The noun WELTER has 1 sense:

1. a confused multitude of things

  Familiarity information: WELTER used as a noun is very rare.

• WELTER (verb)
  The verb WELTER has 3 senses:

1. toss, roll, or rise and fall in an uncontrolled way

2. roll around

3. be immersed in

  Familiarity information: WELTER used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WELTER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A confused multitude of things

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

clutter; fuddle; jumble; mare's nest; muddle; smother; welter

Hypernyms ("welter" is a kind of...):

disorder; disorderliness (a condition in which things are not in their expected places)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "welter"):

rummage (a jumble of things to be given away)

• WELTER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they welter    ... he / she / it welters   
Past simple: weltered   
Past participle: weltered   
-ing form: weltering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Toss, roll, or rise and fall in an uncontrolled way

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The shipwrecked survivors weltered in the sea for hours

Hypernyms (to "welter" is one way to...):

roll over (make a rolling motion or turn)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Roll around

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

wallow; welter

Context example:

pigs were wallowing in the mud

Hypernyms (to "welter" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Be immersed in

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

welter in work

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

 Context examples 

The ship was talking, as sailors say, loudly, treading the innumerable ripples with an incessant weltering splash; and until I got my eye above the window-sill I could not comprehend why the watchmen had taken no alarm.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

And as this idea of fulfilling Wolf Larsen’s order persisted in my dazed consciousness, I seemed to see him standing at the wheel in the midst of the wild welter, pitting his will against the will of the storm and defying it.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)