Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
WELTER, v. Sc. usages, now obs., dial. or poet. in Eng. See also Walter.
1. To sprawl, flop down.e.Lth. 1885 S. Mucklebackit Rhymes 41:
[A dog] boundin' awa' . . . An' welt'rin' doun, his e'e upo' them.
2. To reel, stagger, go in a stumbling, floundering manner (Cai. 1974).Dmf. 1837 Carlyle New Letters (1904) I. 70:
I am to make my appearance as a Lecturer! . . . Some way or other we shall “welter through it.”Abd. 1884 D. Grant Lays 75:
[She] weltered hame through bogs an' hillocks Aifter mony a weary fa'.Mry. 1927 E. B. Levack Lossiemouth 17:
What the sorra were they deein' welterin' awa hine there?
3. To writhe, toss, thrash about.Per. 1896 D. MacAra Crieff II. 233:
I seized a pick and sent one of the arms into the eel's head and split its skull. It weltered terribly to get free of the pick.
4. tr. To overturn (Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis, 1808 Jam., to welter a cart).
[O.Sc. welter, to rock, 1375, to overthrow, c.1450.]
