I. ˈwä](ˌ)lō, ]lə also ˈwȯ]; ]ləw or ]lō+V\ verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English walwen, walowen, from Old English walwian, wealwian — more at voluble
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to roll or move oneself about in an indolent ungainly manner : sprawl luxuriously
took films of hippos as they wallowed in a mudhole
too tired to do anything but wallow in a hot tub
b. : to toss oneself about helplessly or frantically
lay on the ground … wallowing and pitching and screaming — F.B.Gipson
c.
(1) of a ship : to pitch and roll in rough water
the boats were wallowing in the waves … likely to be swamped — J.G.Gilkey
(2) : to sail especially with a heavy rolling motion
wallowed through a quarter mile of whitecaps — Franc Shor
fleets … that wallow up and down the British coasts — Lamp
d. : to move in an awkward, lurching, and disorganized manner
dawn found the convoy wallowing around — Nathaniel Benchley
e. of an airplane : to lurch and wobble (as from shifting air currents)
altitudes … at which fighters perform sluggishly, wallow , lose control — H.W.Baldwin
2. : to billow forth : surge , roll
fat polysyllables … wallowed off his tongue — J.T.Farrell
the launch heaved on a … slowly wallowing sea — Aldous Huxley
3. : to devote oneself entirely or as if entirely : become obsessed (as with a particular mode of behavior or area of interest) — usually used with in
publicly wallowed in his infamies — Merle Miller
the tendency to wallow in national self-absorption — Max Ascoli
our gripes editor literally wallows in gripes — Jewelers' Circular-Keystone
especially : to take unrestrained or excessive pleasure : revel — usually used with in
enjoyed sitting … and wallowing in the sensual melodies — Osbert Sitwell
4.
a. : to become abundantly supplied : luxuriate — usually used with in
nauseating baby talk in which some … books wallow — Margaret F. Kieran
a family that wallows in money
b. : to indulge oneself habitually and immoderately — usually used with in
film stars who wallow in luxury
5. : to become helpless or ineffectual : lose the ability to function naturally or efficiently
the economic catastrophe in which they were … wallowing — J.P.O'Donnell
left to wallow in its ignorance — Lennox Robinson
transitive verb
: to roll (something) about
wallowing these problems around in his mind — F.B.Gipson
Synonyms:
welter , flounder , grovel : wallow implies a movement of rolling to and fro, as of a ship in the trough of a wave or an animal in mire
wind and sea had risen, and the little Torakina was rearing, plunging and wallowing as she took up the strain of her tow — R.S.Porteous
a jeep came wallowing through the mud — Norman Mailer
was wallowing in self-abasement — Times Literary Supplement
welter sometimes implies wallowing but more often implies a rolling or tossing helplessly, as at the mercy of a storm
the lifeboat and its passengers weltered in the sea for over a week
the mass of the people were weltering in shocking poverty whilst a handful of owners wallowed in millions — G.B.Shaw
flounder stresses a helpless stumbling or struggling in an effort to make progress
crews floundering through the wet black muck — Marjory S. Douglas
her feet grew heavier with each step and she floundered among the hollows like an odd, awkward fish — Audrey Barker
many writers have floundered in one medium of speech while in another they have moved with ease — H.O.Taylor
grovel implies a crawling or wriggling close to the ground, as in abject fear, self-abasement, or complete degradation
fluttered to the ground and groveled on the sand in what appeared to be a kind of frenzy — E.A.Armstrong
one moment he towered in imagination, the next he groveled in fear — G.D.Brown
a mean, timeserving little man, groveling odiously before the wealthy people in the district who patronize his shop — Peter Forster
II. noun
( -s )
1. : an act or instance of wallowing
the apogee of earthly reward, a luxurious wallow in glamour — R.L.Taylor
2.
a.
(1) : an area that is wet and muddy or filled with dust and is used by animals for wallowing
the rhino, huge and gray in the brush, almost white from the dried mud of the wallow — Ernest Hemingway
elephants using the shallow stream bed for a wallow
(2) : a depression in the ground formed by the wallowing of animals
great herds left the landscape pitted with wallows
— see bear wallow , buffalo wallow , hog wallow
b.
(1) : a declivity or area that is often filled with water or mud and resembles an animal wallow — compare mudhole 1, swale 2
black wallows … where cars or wagons had been bogged down — L.C.Stevens
an open field that was often a wallow of mud — Joseph Wechsberg
(2) : kommetje
3. : a state or condition of degradation or degeneracy
the awful wallow that circumstance has plunged him into — John McCarten
III. intransitive verb
Etymology: Middle English weolewen, wallowen, from Old English wealwian; akin to Middle Low German welen to wither, Middle Dutch welken to welk — more at welk
Scotland : fade , wither