wheal

/wiːl/

wheal noun: a small raised swelling on the skin, often itchy, caused by a blow from a whip or an insect bite etc.

Image: Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

wheal (plural wheals)

A small raised swelling on the skin, often itchy, caused by a blow from a whip or an insect bite etc.
- A Perſon of Honour, of a full Body abounding with ſharp Humours, was ſeized with an Herpes on his right Leg. […] [I]t inflamed and ſwelled very much, many Wheals aroſe, and fretted one into another, with great Excoriation.1676, Richard Wiseman, “[A Treatise of Tumors.] Of an Herpes”, in Severall Chirurgical Treatises, London: Printed by E. Flesher and J[ohn] Macock, for R[ichard] Royston bookseller to His Most Sacred...
- So they gripped again until red wheals rose on their backs and shoulders by reason of the grievous clasping of their arms.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 22
Synonyms:

wale, weal, welt

Verb

wheal (third-person singular simple present wheals, present participle whealing, simple past and past participle whealed)

(uncommon) Synonym of wale.

Synonyms:

wale

Noun (2)

wheal (plural wheals)

(Australia, Cornwall, South) A mine.
- The four last-mentioned mines, Wheal Crowndale, Wheal Crebor, East Liscombe, and Wheal Tamar, are on the same lode, which ranges as usual from east to west, and are included in a space of about four miles in length.1829, Thomas Moore, The History of Devonshire, page 528
- Surrounding the village are the remains ot many mine workings including the picturesque gtoup of clifftop buildings thar were once part of one of the county's best known mines - Wheal Coares.2003, Peter Long, The Hidden Places of Cornwall, page 85

wheal meaning in Tamil

wheal in Tamil

செந்தடிப்பு, தடிப்பு, வெளிர்த் தடிப்பு

Synonyms of wheal

Forms of wheal

Noun
plural	wheals
Verb
third-person singular present	wheals
present participle	whealing
past participle	whealed
past	whealed

Origin of wheal

From Middle English whele (“boil”), from Old English *hwele (“boil”); related to Old English hwelian (“to fester, ulcerate”). Compare also Old English hwelca, hwylca (“an inflamed swelling, pustule”).

Borrowed from Cornish hwel.

Words formed from wheal

Words that rhyme with wheal

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about wheal

What does wheal mean?: Wheal means a small raised swelling on the skin, often itchy, caused by a blow from a whip or an insect bite etc.
What is wheal in Tamil?: Wheal in Tamil is செந்தடிப்பு, தடிப்பு, வெளிர்த் தடிப்பு. See Wheal meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is wheal?: Wheal can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce wheal?: Wheal is pronounced /wiːl/.
What is the plural of wheal?: The plural of wheal is wheals.

Words near wheal in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: wheal (page history and authors); wheal (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “wheal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/wheal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.