The Collaborative International Dictionary
Whelm \Whelm\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whelmed; p. pr. & vb. n. Whelming.] [OE. whelmen to turn over, akin to OE. whelven, AS. whelfan, hwylfan, in ?whylfan, ?whelfan, to overwhelm, cover over; akin to OS. bihwelbian, D. welven to arch, G. w["o]lben, OHG. welben, Icel. hvelfa to overturn; cf. Gr. ? bosom, a hollow, a gulf.]
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To cover with water or other fluid; to cover by immersion in something that envelops on all sides; to overwhelm; to ingulf.
She is my prize, or ocean whelm them all!
--Shak.The whelming billow and the faithless oar.
--Gay. Fig.: To cover completely, as if with water; to immerse; to overcome; as, to whelm one in sorrows. ``The whelming weight of crime.''
--J. H. Newman.To throw (something) over a thing so as to cover it. [Obs.]
--Mortimer.
Wiktionary
n. Something that covers or submerges. vb. (present participle of whelm English)
Usage examples of "whelming".
But as the last whelmings intermixingly poured themselves over the sunken head of the Indian at the mainmast, leaving a few inches of the erect spar yet visible, together with long streaming yards of the flag, which calmly undulated, with ironical coincidings, over the destroying billows they almost touched.