Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
†SWELTER, v. Sc. usages, now obs. in Eng.: 1. To welter, wallow, to flounder or flop about.Per. 1716 A. G. Reid Auchterarder (1899) 115:
[They] were so encumbered with the snow that they cou'd not walk through, but lay sweltering amongst it.Sc. 1830 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) II. 342:
Raisin his great big unwieldy red bouk half way up frae the earth, and then swelterin doun again [of a monster].
2. Of a boiling pot: to bubble, simmer. Vbl.n. sweltering.Edb. 1863 Border Mag. (Oct.) 234:
The sweltering and tottling of the pot.
