I. ˈsweltə(r) verb
( sweltered ; sweltered ; sweltering -ltəriŋ, -l.triŋ ; swelters )
Etymology: Middle English sweltren, swelteren, freq. of swelten to die, faint, be overcome by heat, from Old English sweltan to die, perish; akin to Old Saxon sweltan to die, Old High German swelzan to burn up (with passion), Old Norse svelta to die, starve, be hungry, Gothic swiltan to die, and probably to Old English swelan to burn, Middle Low German swelen to smolder, Greek heilē, eilē, helē heat of the sun, sunshine, Lithuanian svilti to singe, Sanskrit svarati it lights up, shines
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to be faint from heat : become oppressed or excessively uncomfortable with heat : perspire profusely : sweat
an explorer who has sweltered in the jungle and frozen in the far north
b. : to become exposed to excessive heat
a land that swelters for most of the year
2. archaic : wallow , welter
3. archaic : to become exuded
transitive verb
1. : to oppress with heat : make faint with heat : cause to sweat profusely
amphitheater which sheltered and sweltered the last … convention — Phyllis Battelle
2. archaic : exude
sweltered venom — Shakespeare
II. noun
( -s )
1. : a state of oppressive heat
the officers ate in a swelter , sweat dripping from their hands and faces — Norman Mailer
2. : welter
the immense sweeps and swelters of the whirl — E.A.Poe
3. : an excited or overwrought state of mind : sweat
for all the bitter cold and my thin gown and us being far from the fire, I was all in a swelter — Mary Webb