What does "weltering" mean?

The motion of something that welters; a billowing.

What is a synonym for "weltering"?

Common synonyms include: awash, drenched, dripping wet, drowned, engulfed, flooded.

noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The motion of something that welters; a billowing.
"They may have extended, it is said, over only a few provinces of Central Asia, in which, when all was life and light in other parts of the globe, there reigned for a time only death and darkness amid the welterings of a chaotic sea […]"

Verb

1
present participle and gerund of welter form-of, gerund, participle, present
"While weltering in the purple stream That dyed their garments' fold, Their flowing curls profusely lay, Bright chesnut blent with gold."

"The creaking of the masts; the straining and groaning of bulkheads, as the ship labored in the weltering sea, were frightful."

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.