Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Whelm

Whelm , transitive verb

[Old English whelmen to turn over, akin to Old English whelven, Anglo-Saxon whelfan, hwylfan, in {not transcribed}whylfan, {not transcribed}whelfan, to overwhelm, cover over; akin to Old Saxon bihwelbian, Dutch welven to arch, German wolben, Old High German welben, Icelandic hvelfa to overturn; compare Greek {not transcribed} bosom, a hollow, a gulf.]

1.
To cover with water or other fluid; to cover by immersion in something that envelops on all sides; to overwhelm; to ingulf.
She is my prize, or ocean whelm them all! — Shakespeare
The whelming billow and the faithless oar. — Gay
2.
Figuratively: To cover completely, as if with water; to immerse; to overcome; as, to whelm one in sorrows.
The whelming weight of crime. — J. H. Newman
3.
To throw (something) over a thing so as to cover it. [Obsolete] — Mortimer