2006-08-10 07:42:51 · 25 answers · asked by ALAN B 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Trivia
Yes.
Main Entry: whelm
Pronunciation: 'hwelm, 'welm
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English
transitive verb
1 : to turn (as a dish or vessel) upside down usually to cover something : cover or engulf completely with usually disastrous effect
2 : to overcome in thought or feeling : OVERWHELM
intransitive verb : to pass or go over something so as to bury or submerge it
2006-08-10 07:46:09 · answer #1 · answered by effin drunk 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
All 3 words are mentioned indoors the dictionary. My wager is that "whelm," the archaic unique - to upturn or submerge - did no longer do the pastime and grew to alter into supplanted by applying means of "overwhelm". Underwhelm established indoors the mid-twentieth Century, little question as a play on words that caught.
2016-11-04 07:24:48 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
To Whelm means to cover with water (submerge) so I suppose the real meaning of overwhelm is to completely submerge or cover with water and perhaps to underwhelm is not to cover with water at all!
2006-08-10 22:42:52 · answer #3 · answered by weegleajeems 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Whelm can be a verb, so yes
It can mean to turn a hollow vessel upside-down so as to cover something else.
eg putting an empty beer glass on a wasp - to avoid being stung
There are quite a few more possible meanings
2006-08-10 07:50:23 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
A link to a whole bunch of dictionary definitions of "whelm". It means to overturn an object or overcome a person with emotion.
http://www.onelook.com/?w=whelm&ls=a
2006-08-10 07:50:24 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes you can. According to my Chambers Dictionary the meaning of whelm is:-
To cover completely: to submerge or overpower.
2006-08-10 08:59:54 · answer #6 · answered by quatt47 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
in this case, NO. the letters w-h-e-l-m cannot be separate from their prefixes in order to make a "word" that is understood in the English language. the entire word would be considered a "base" word. Even though the prefixes can be interchanged, they cannot be taken away for purposes of making sense of the part of the word that is always constant (in this case, whelm).
2006-08-10 07:58:35 · answer #7 · answered by one_sera_phim 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It looks like you can.
The bee was whelmed by the man's glass. He overwhelmed it.
2006-08-10 08:09:03 · answer #8 · answered by fcyoss 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
In germanic languages walm would be something like a strong fragrance, or also smoke. So whelm a.s.o. must be derived from that. Hell, what do I know 'bout that, just guessing...
2006-08-10 07:52:36 · answer #9 · answered by jayoftee 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
of course you can!
I am whelmed to be able to answer this question for you, and I wouln't mind betting you are really whelmed by this answer!
2006-08-11 11:18:48 · answer #10 · answered by used to live in Wales 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋