wheel-window 
iiiltkUe, so tliat the form of a wliccl is more or 
less closely suggested, it is practically the same as 
rose-iriiuioic' though the attempt is sometimes made to re- 
6892 
wheezily (hwe'zl-li), adv. In a wheezing man- 
ner; as if with difficulty of breathing. 
"The potman was a-listening," he said, wheezUy ; "I 
could see it by the way he 'eld 'is 'ed." 
D. Christie Murray, Weaker Vessel, xii. 
wheezy (hwe'zi), fl. l<.uhee:e + -y^.~\ Affected 
with or characterized by wheezing. 
So Fred was gratified with nearly an hour's practice of 
. . . favorite airs from his "Instructor on the l-'lute" — a 
wheezy performance, into which he threw much ambition 
and an irrepressible hopefulness. 
George Eliot, Middlemarch, xi. 
wheft (hweft), n. Naut., an erroneous form of 
waft, i. 
whelfcl (hwclk), n. [< ME. wltelke, qwelke, dim. 
of jf/ieo?!.] A wheal; a pustule; a swelling or 
protuberance, as on the body. 
Boras, ceruce, ne oille of tartre noon, 
Neoynement that wolde dense and byte, 
That him mighte helpen of his wltelkes whyte. 
Chancer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 632. 
One Bardolph, if your majesty know the man ; his face 
is all bubukles, and whelks, and knobs, and flames o' fire. 
Shak., Hen. V., iii. 8. 108. 
whelk^ (hwelk), n. [An erroneous modem 
form of w<m, < ME. tcclk, wilt, vj/lk-e (> OF. 
wclke), < AS. wihr, later weoluc, velnc, a moUusk 
with a spiral or convoluted shell, prob. orig. 
*icilc, < wcalcan, roll, walk: see tcalk, ».] A gas- 
tropod of the family i?«mHJrfa in a broad sense; 
a buecinid, or some similar univalve with a spi- 
Wheel-wiiidow in western facade of Cliartres Cathedral, France ; 
end of i2th century. 
Strict the name wheel-window to examples in which straight 
spokes are particularly suggested. Also called catharine- 
wheel. 
The transept facade has sometimes a ^rfieel window at 
the clerestory level, as at Lincoln, and sometimes it has 
such a window in the gable, as at York and Beverley. 
C. H, Motjre, Gothic Architecture, p. 160. 
wheelwork (hwel'werk), ». A combination 
of wheels, as in watches and clocks, in embroi- 
dery, etc. 
wheel-worn (hwel'worn), a. Worn by the ac- 
tion of moving wheels. 
The chariots abounding in her wheel-worn streets. 
Cmvper, Expostulation, 1. 21. 
wheel'wright (hwel'rit), «. [< ME. whelwrigt, 
qirlwri,^tc ; iwheel^ + wriqht.'] A person who 
works at or with a wheel ; specifically, a man 
whose occupation is to make wheels, wheeled 
carriages, etc. 
A wifman of so much myjth, 
.So wonder a tfhelwry,Yth, 
Sey I nevere with sygth. 
ilS. Laud. 108, fol. 237 (Eel. Antiq., II. S). 
The basket-maker peeling his willow wands in the sun- 
shine ; the tcheelicriyht putting the last touch to a blue 
cart with red wheels. Geonje Eliot. Felix Holt, Int. 
Wheelwrights' machine, an adjustable machine for 
doing some of the various operations by which a wagon- 
wheel is made, as boring the hubs and fellies and tenoning 
the spokes. 
wheely (hwe'li), «. [< whceU + -(/!.] Circu- 
lar; suitable to rotation. 
Give a wheely form 
To the expected grinder. J. Philips, Cider, ii. 
wheenl (hwen), )(. [A]so whin ; <.'ME.*whe»c, 
< AS. Inrxiic, hieenc; secondary form of ME. 
whim, qviDi, hwan, liwriii, wan. < AS. hwoti, adv., 
a little, somewhat.] A little (originally used 
adverbially); a small number; hence, a quan- 
tity. [Scotch.] 
There will be a wheen idle gowks coming to glower at 
the hole as lang as it is daylight. Scott, Antiquary, xxiv. 
wheen'-^ (hwen), w. A dialectal form of qncen'^. 
'I'hat es called the wheene of Amazonnes, 
I'lulyr whose powere that folk wonnes. 
llampole. (Halliwell.) 
wheen-cat (bwen'kat), II. [< ichccii- + cafi.'] 
A queen or female eat. HaUiwcll. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
wheeze (hwezj, r. t. ; pret. anil pp. ir]iec~eil, ppr. 
wliif-iii//. [Fonnerly also v:hin:e ; < ME. htce.^cii, 
< AS. jiwcsaii (pret. //(fco.y), wheeze; perhaps 
akin to Icel. hriesa = Sw. hvii.'ia = Dan. hvsese, 
hiss, wheeze, and to the imitative E. words, 
whis-jicr, wliiHtle. Cf. Skt. -^ Qfax, puff, breathe, 
Ij. qnrri (\tY>. qiwstu-t), comj)lain: see(/«es(l, quer- 
nliiH.t. For the alleged conncctioti with wca.wii(l, 
see iriii.'iaiiil.] To breathe liiird ; puff and blow ; 
brcatlic witli <lifficully and audiljly. 
Catarrhs, . . . u?/iee^i/iy lungs. .S/ia*., 'i'. and ('., v. 1. 24. 
The patient [in asthma] . . . begins to wheeze during 
sleep, and is only aroused when the dyspiKjea bec(jines se- 
vere. Quain, Med. Diet., p. 01. 
wheeze (hwez), n. [< whec^c, v.] A puffing or 
lilowing, especially as in labored breathing. 
The fat old dog on the portico gave a gentle wheeze of 
recognition. The Atlantic, LXVI. isf.. 
A'ltssu reticulata. 
Whelks. 
Vassa oiisotet.i. (Both natural sizi 
ral gibbous shell whose aperture forms a kind 
of spout, and whose whorls are more or less 
varicose or whelked. A vei7 common whelk to 
which the name may have originally or especially applied 
is Buccxnutn undatum. See also cuts under Buccinwm. 
cancrisocial, nidainental, ribbon, and Siphonostomata. 
Also wilk. 
A deal table, on which are exposed . . . oysters . . . 
and divers specimens of a species of snail {wilkn, we think 
they are called), floating in a somewhat bilious-looking 
green liquid. Dickens, Sketches, Scenes, xii. 
Live whelkn, the lips'-beard dripping fresh, 
As if they still the water's lisp heard. 
Browning, Popularity. 
The whelk and barnacle are clinging to the hardened 
sand. Geikie, GeoL Sketches, ii. 
Reversed whelk, Fulgur perperso.— Ribbon whelk, 
one of the large whelks which spin out a ribbon or ruflle 
of egg-cases, as Fulgur (or Busycon) carica and Sycotypus 
canalicxilatus ; a hairy whelk. [Local, U. S.] — Rough 
whelk, Urosalpinx cinerea, the borer or drill. See cut 
under Urosalpijix. (See also dog-whelk.) 
whelked (hwelkt), a. [An erroneous form of 
wclkid. early mod. E. wealkcd ; < whelk^, welk^. 
-I- -od^.] Formed like a whelk ; hence, marked 
or covered with ridges like those of a wlielk. 
Horns whelk'd [var. welk'd, wealkd] and waved like the 
enridged sea. Shak., Lear, iv. 6. 71. 
Look up at its Ithe tree's] towering expanse of branches, 
observe its whelked and furrowed bole, and try to clasp 
it round. A. S. Palmer, Word Hunter's Note-Book, iv. 
whelk-tingle (hwelk'tin'''gl), «. A kind of dog- 
whelk, Nassa rcticuJata, common on the English 
coast. See cut under dog-ivlwlk. [Eng.] 
whelkyH (hwel'ki), a. [< whelkl + -yl-.'i 
Abounding in whelks, pustules, or blisters. 
Pluck . . . stood sunk to his chin in the snow, and 
laughed as heartily as any of them, his shining bald pate 
and whelky red face streaming with moisture and shaking 
with merriment. S. Judd, Margaret, i. 17. 
whelky- (hwel'ki), a. [Prop, welkji; < whclk^, 
+ -»/i.] Formed like a whelk; hence, knobby; 
rounded. 
Ne ought the whelky pearles esteemeth hee, 
Which are from Indian seas brought far away. 
Spenser, Virgil's Gnat, 1. lo.'i. 
whelm (liwelm), r. [< ME. ivhelmoi, an al- 
tered form (due to the influenceof the different 
word wclm, or a lost noun, *wlicl»i for *wlirlfiii) 
of wlirlrcii, turn, overturn, cover by something 
turned over, overwhelm, = OS. Jie-hwilliian = 1). 
wclveii = MHG. irelboi. G. wolbcii, arch over, 
cover, = Icel. In-dlfa, holfa, turn upside down, 
= Sw. hrdlfra = Dan. hvselrc, arch over; asso- 
ciated with AS. Iiwcalf, arched, convex, hwralf, 
a vault, = Icel. hrdlf, liolf, a vault, arch, = Sw. 
whelp 
fct!o?/=Dan. hvseh; a vault, arch; ef. Gr. k6?.voc, 
bosom, gulf (see (/m//).] J. trans. 1. To throw 
over so as to cover. [Prov. Eng.] 
I whelme an hollowe thyng over an other tbyng. Je 
met desBus. . . . Wfielme a platter upon it, to save it from 
flyes. Palsgrave, p. 7&0. 
Hill upon hill whelmed upon it [the church], nay, [it lay] 
like a grain of corn between the upper and lower mill-stone, 
ground to dust between tyrants and heretics. 
Donne, Sermons, xvii. 
2. To engulf ; submerge ; cover by immersion 
in something that envelops on all sides ; over- 
whelm. 
She is my prize, or ocean whelm them all. 
Shak., M. W. of W., ii. 2. 143. 
We perish'd, each alone ; 
But I beneath a rougher sea, 
And whelm'd in deeper gulfs than he. 
Cowper, The Cast-away. 
Drawn thro' either chasm . . . 
Koird a sea-haze, and whelm'd the world in gray. 
Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
3. Hence, to crush, ruin, or destroy by some 
sudden overpowering disaster. 
Grievous mischiefes which a wicked Fay 
Had wrought, and many whehnd in deadly paine. 
Spenser, i'. Q., IL ii. 43. 
To whelm 
All of them in one massacre. 
Tennyson, Lucretius. 
II. intrans. To pass or roll over so as to cover 
or submerge. 
The waves whHrrCd over him. 
Dryden, Don Sebastian, t 1. 
whelp (hwelp), ». [< ME. whelp, welp, hweolp, 
hwelp, < AS. hwelp = OS. hwelp = D. welp = LG. 
welp = OHG. hwelf, welf, MHG. welf = Icel. 
hielpr= OSw. hwnip, Sw. valp = Dan. hvalp, a 
whelp, the young of dogs, wolves, lions, and 
other beasts.] 1. The young of the dog, wolf, 
lion, tiger, bear, seal, etc., but especially of the 
dog; a cub: sometimes applied to the whole 
canine species, whether young or old. 
The Liun of Prude [Pride] haueth swuthe monie hweolpes. 
Ancren Riwle, p. 198. 
Youre rede colera, parde, 
Which causeth folk to dremen in here dremes . . . 
Of grete bestes, that they wol hem byte. 
Of contek, and of whelpes grete and lyte. 
Cfuiucer, Nun's Priest's Tale, I. 112. 
A bear robbed of her whelps. 2 Sam. xvii. 8. 
The son [Caliban] that she did litter here, 
A freckled whelp hag-born. Shak., Tempest, i. 2. 283. 
Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound. 
And curs of low degree. 
Goldsmith, Elegy on Death of a Mad Dog. 
2. A youth; a cub; a puppy: a term of eon- 
tempt. 
On one of the back l)encbes . . . sat the villainous 
whelp, sulky to the last, whom he had the misery to call 
his son. Dickens, Hard Times, iii. 7. 
3t. A kind of ship. 
25 July, 16.3.^. About six hour I went aboard one of the 
king's ships called the ninth whelp, which is in the king's 
books 215 ton and tonnage in king's books. She carries 
sixteen pieces of ordinance. . . . This ship is manned 
with sixty men. Brereton, Travels, p. 164. (Oavies.} 
Four of the king's ships and six merchant ships are to 
go for the coast of Ireland, to beat the Turks thence. 
And the occasion was this : Captain Plumley was sent 
thither with one of the ships royal and two whelps to 
seek out Nutt the pirate. 
Court and Times of Charles I., II. 186. 
4. Naut., one of several longitudinal projec- 
tions from the barrel of a capstan, windlass, or 
winch, provided to take the strain of the chain 
or rope which is being hove upon, and afford a 
firmer hold. — 5. One of the teeth of a sprocket- 
wheel. E. H. Kniijht. 
whelp (hwelp), V. [Also Sc. trhalp; < ME. 
u-helpvn.hwelpen, hncolpen ; < whelp, n.] I. in- 
trans. To bring forth young, as the female of 
the dog and various beasts of prey. 
They [sharks] spawne not, but whelp, like the Dogge 
or Wolfe, and at night or towardes stormes receiue their 
young into their mouthes for safetie. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 902. 
It is a Bitch-otter, and she has lately whelp'd. 
1. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 60. 
II. trans. To bring forth, as a bitch, lioness, 
and many beasts of prey ; hence, to give birth 
to ; originate : used in contempt. 
Then said Lyciugus, you are witnesses that these two 
dogges were whelpt in one day, ... of one syre and dam. 
Gueeara. Letters (tr. by Hellowes, 1577), p. 22. 
Did thy foul fancy whelp so foul a scheme 
Of hopes abortive? 
Young, Night Thoughts, vii. 901. 
He was nane o' Scotland's dogs, 
But whalpit some place far abroad. 
Whare sailors gang to tish for cod. 
Burn*, The Twa Dogs. 
