Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Welter

Welter , intransitive verb

[Freq. of Old English walten to roll over, Anglo-Saxon wealtan; akin to LG. weltern, German walzen to roll, to waltz, sich walzen to welter, Old High German walzan to roll, Icelandic velta, Danish valte, Swedish valtra, valta; compare Gothic waltjan; probably akin to English wallow, well, v. i. r146. See Well, v. i., and compare Waltz.]

1.
To roll, as the body of an animal; to tumble about, especially in anything foul or defiling; to wallow.
When we welter in pleasures and idleness, then we eat and drink with drunkards. — Latimer
These wizards welter in wealth's waves. — Spenser
He must not float upon his watery bier Unwept, and welter to the parching wind, Without the meed of some melodious tear. — Milton
The priests at the altar... weltering in their blood. — Landor
2.
To rise and fall, as waves; to tumble over, as billows.
The weltering waves. — Milton
Waves that, hardly weltering, die away. — Wordsworth
Through this blindly weltering sea. — Trench

Welter , transitive verb

[Compare Wilt, v. i.]

To wither; to wilt. [Rare]
Weltered hearts and blighted... memories. — I. Taylor

Welter , adjective

(Horse Racing) Of, pertaining to, or designating, the most heavily weighted race in a meeting; as, a welter race; the welter stakes.

Welter , noun

1.
That in which any person or thing welters, or wallows; filth; mire; slough.
The foul welter of our so-called religious or other controversies. — Carlyle
2.
A rising or falling, as of waves; as, the welter of the billows; the welter of a tempest.