whelms

Verb (1)

whelm (third-person singular simple present whelms, present participle whelming, simple past and past participle whelmed)

1. (archaic, transitive) To bury, to cover; to engulf, to submerge.
   • Giue fire: ſhe is my prize, or Ocean whelme them all.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

   Synonyms:

   overwhelm, whemmel

   Antonyms:

   unwhelm

2. (obsolete, transitive) To throw (something) over a thing so as to cover it.
   • Gnats and Flies are very troubleſome in Houſes [...] Balls made of Horſe-dung and laid in a Room will do the ſame [attract gnats and flies] if they are new made; by which means you may whelm ſome things over them and keep them there.1708, J[ohn] Mortimer, “Of Kites, Hawks, &c.”, in The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], 2nd corrected edition, London: Printed by J. H. for H. Mortlock […]...

   Synonyms:

   whemmel

3. (obsolete, transitive) To ruin or destroy.
   • Here, where a Cæsar stood two thousand years ago, the traveller from another continent (though not from New Zealand) stands to-day, to muse—at Pæstum, as at Pompeii—on the fate which overtakes all human things, and at last whelms man and his works in one undistinguishable ruin.1877, Henry M[artyn] Field, “Naples.—Pompeii and Pæstum.”, in From the Lakes of Killarney to the Golden Horn, 4th edition, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, Armstrong, and Company, →OCLC, page 281
4. (archaic, intransitive) To overcome with emotion; to overwhelm.
   • Hear Thou our plaint, when light is gone / And lawlessness and strife prevail. / Hear, lest the whelming weight of crime / Wreck us with life in view; / Lest thoughts and schemes of sense and time / Earn us a sinner's due.1839, [John Henry Newman]; [Frederick Parry Hodges, compiler], “Hymn 71”, in A Selection of Psalms and Hymns as Chaunted and Sung in the Parish Church of Lyme Regis, Dorset, Lyme [Regis], Dorset...

Verb (2)

whelm (third-person singular simple present whelms, present participle whelming, simple past and past participle whelmed)

1. (colloquial, transitive) To emotionally affect at an intensity in between underwhelm and overwhelm; to just satisfy or just meet expectations.
   • Hey guys, Scott here with my first impressions of the Jason 10th anniversary patch. And I have to say I am I'm kind of just whelmed. Like it's I'm not disappointed and I'm not like blown away or excited by anything that I've seen here.2026 May 26, Scott Jund, Jason Patch First Impressions Are Alright - Dead by Daylight

See all 7 meanings of whelm