Wallow v.¹

Forms: 1 wealwian, weal(o)wiʓan, 3 weolewe, 3–5 walewe, walwe, 4 Sc. valou-, 4–5 wolow, walu-, 4–7 walow(e, 5 walo-, 5, 7 wallo-, 5–7 wallowe, 6– wallow. Also 3–4 welu-, 5 welwyn, welowyn. [OE. wealwian:—OTeut. *walwōjan; a parallel OTeut. *walwjan occurs in Goth. (af-, at-, faur-) walwjan, OE. wielwan, to roll (trans.); cf. Goth. walwisōn to roll (intr.).

  The Teut. *welw-: *walw- represents Pre-Teut. *welw-, *welu-, whence Gr. ἐλυσθείς rolled, wrapped, ἔλυτρον wrapper, case, L. volvĕre to roll.]

  I.  Intransitive senses.

  † 1.  Of a round object (a stone, a wheel): To roll (along the ground); to move by revolving or rotating. Only in OE. Hence fig. of a thought: To revolve or be turned over in the mind. Obs.

c. 888.  Ælfred, Boeth., vi. Ðonne þer micel stan wealwiende of þam heohan munte oninnan fealð. Ibid., xxxix. § 7. Þa felʓa þeah hongiað on þæm spacan, þeah hi eallunga wealowiʓen on þære eorðan.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VI. 301. I praye þat it greve ȝow nouȝt … þeyȝ I telle ȝow openliche what haþ longe tyme i-halowed [v.rr. walwed, ywalwed] in myn herte [L. quod animus meus dire volutavit].

  2.  Of a person or animal: To roll about, toss or tumble from side to side, while lying down or stretched out. Now rare exc. as in 3.

c. 900.  trans. Bæda’s Hist., III. ix. (1890), 178. [Ðæt hors] ongon wealwian & on æʓhwæðre siidan hit ʓelomlice oferwearp.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Wife’s T., 229. Whan he was with his wyf abedde ybroght, He walweth and he turneth to and fro.

1388.  Wyclif, Mark ix. 19 [20]. He was throw doun to grounde, and walewide, and fomede.

1480.  Caxton, Myrr., II. xv. (1913), 102. The hyrchon, whan he fyndeth apples beten or blowen doun of a tree, he woloweth on them tyl he be … laden wyth the fruyt stykyng on his pryckes.

1530.  Palsgr., 771/1. I wallowe, I tourne to and fro. Je me voystre. What wylte thou gyve me, and I wyll walowe from this hyll toppe down to the grounde.

1538.  Elyot, Dict., Voluto, to tourne lyinge, to walow.

1555.  Eden, Decades (Arb.), 231. The fysshe … waloweth on euery syde and about the shyppe.

1602.  Carew, Cornwall, I. 3 b. Where the Horse walloweth, some haires will still remaine.

1720.  De Foe, Capt. Singleton, v. (1840), 94. Some that were wounded and lame, who lay wallowing and screaming … upon the ground.

1881.  Jowett, Thucyd., I. 127. The dead lay as they had died, one upon another, while others hardly alive wallowed [ἐκαλινδοῦντο] in the streets.

  † b.  said of persons wrestling together. Obs.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Reeve’s T., 358. And in the floor, with nose and mouth to-broke, They walwe, as doon two pigges in a poke.

a. 1400[?].  Morte Arth., 1142. Wrothely thai wrythyn and wrystill to-gederz, Welters and walowes ouer with-in thase buskez.

1470–85.  Malory, Arthur, V. v. 168. Thenne Arthur weltred and wrong, that he was other whyle vnder and another tyme aboue, And so weltryng and walowynge they rolled doune the hylle.

  c.  To move about heavily or clumsily; to go along with a rolling or floundering gait.

1570.  Drant, Serm., B viij b. Pope Leo that was so forgrowen with fatte, that he coulde not wallowe vp two staires in the Capitall.

1576.  Turberv., Venerie, lxxvii. 216. They [i.e., bears] go somtimes a galloppe, & somtimes an amble: but when they wallow then they go at moste ease.

1599.  Marston, Ant. & Mel., V. (1602), I 1. When I see … another wallowe in a greate sloppe, I mistrust the proportion of his thigh.

1603.  Dekker, Wonderfull Yeare, F 2. My gorbelly Host … out of the house he wallowed presentlie.

1609.  W. M., Man in Moone, Glutton, E 2. Now he approacheth wallowing like a woman with childe.

1845.  S. Judd, Margaret, II. i. Toads … shrugged and wallowed up from their torpid beds.

1864.  Lowell, Fireside Trav., 232. In a moment you [in the diligence] are rattling and rumbling and wallowing down into the valley.

1876.  J. Weiss, Wit, Hum. & Shaks., iv. 130. This rotund earth that goes wallowing eastward is an aboriginal Falstaff.

  † d.  To flounder in speech. Obs.

14[?].  Bk. Curtasye, 63, in Babees Bk., 301. Yf any man speke þat tyme [i.e., when thy mouth is over-full] to the, And þou schalle onsware, hit wille not be But waloande, and a-byde þou most.

  3.  To roll about, or lie prostrate and relaxed in or upon some liquid, viscous or yielding substance (e.g., mire, blood, water, dust, sand). Often implying sensual enjoyment or indifference to defilement. Usu. with in.

c. 897.  K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., liv. 421. He wealwode on ðæm ʓedrofum wætere.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 37. Þan hie [swine] fulle beð, hie secheð to þe fule floddri and þaron waleweð.

a. 1225.  Juliana, 41. Ich hit am þe reafde þe riche Job his ahte, swa þat he weolewede of wontreðe iþe mixne.

c. 1380.  Sir Ferumb., 2328. Þe Amyral … walwede þanne on þe dyche.

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVIII. lxxxvii. (1495), 836. Whan swyne ben syke they walowe in fenne and in puddels.

c. 1450.  Mirk’s Festial, 226. Loþe had he byn forto haue seen wormes and grubbes walewe yn þat blessyd full wombe.

1577.  B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., III. 149. A marrishe is to be preferred before a dry ground, that they [swine] may … wallowe in the myre, and toomble in the puddels of water.

1593.  Shaks., Rich. II., I. iii. 298. Or Wallow naked in December snow.

1611.  Bible, 2 Sam. xx. 12. Amasa wallowed in blood in the mids of the high way.

1667.  Milton, P. L., VII. 411. Part huge of bulk Wallowing unweildie, enormous in thir Gate Tempest the Ocean.

1699.  Dampier, Voy., II. III. v. 48. ’Tis reported the Commanders do keep Bathing-Troughs full of Water to lye and wallow in.

1791.  Cowper, Odyss., X. 391. Hence—seek the sty. There wallow with thy friends.

1819.  Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., XI. I. 139. They [Gallinaceæ] are fond of wallowing in the dust.

1838.  Dickens, O. Twist, viii. Little knots of houses, where drunken men and women were positively wallowing in filth.

1878.  H. S. Wilson, Alpine Ascents, ii. 53. We wallow in soft rotten snow above our knees.

  4.  Of a ship: To roll from side to side; to sail with a rolling motion; to roll helplessly in the trough of the waves. † Of a floating object: To be tossed about.

c. 1300.  St. Gregory, 371, in Archiv. Stud. neu. Spr., LVII. 63. Hij seien a bat come walwynge.

c. 1350.  Northern Passion, II. 128 (MS. Rawl.). Þar nettes walweþ þat ssolde hem fede.

c. 1590.  in Hakluyt, Voy. (1599), II. II. 163. Which caused our ship to rowle and wallow.

1633.  T. James, Voy., 79. Which made her swag and wallow in her Docke.

1670.  Milton, Hist. Eng., VI. 247. It were an endless work to relate how they [the Danish ships] wallow’d up and down to every particular place.

1720.  De Foe, Capt. Singleton, ii. (1840), 33. She wallowed so in the sea, that we … thought she would at last wallow herself bottom up.

1914.  A. M. Scott-Moncrieff, in Blackw. Mag., Jan., 23/2. The Bussorah was not a good boat, and she pitched and rolled and wallowed all through the Bay and well on into the Mediterranean.

  5.  Of the sea, waves: To roll, surge, heave, toss. Of wind: To whirl, blow gustily. Of a liquid: To spout, gush; to spring or well up. Of flame, smoke, vapor: To surge up.

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. V. 71. Venim or vernisch or vinegre, I trouwe, Walleþ [v.rr. walewiþ, walweþ] in my wombe. Ibid., IX. 36. Þe goodes in þis world ben lyk þis grete wawes, Riht as wyndes and watres waleweþ aboute.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Boeth., II. pr. vi. (1886), 40. They don as grete damages and destrucciouns as doth the flaumbe of the mountaigne ethna whan the flawmbe walweth vp. Ibid. (c. 1386), Miller’s T., 430. Hym thynketh verraily that he may see Noees flood come walwynge [v.r. walkyng] as the see.

1529.  More, Dyaloge, I. x. 17. To se that great water cum walowynge vp agaynst the wynde.

a. 1593.  Marlowe, Lucan, I. 614. No vaine sprung out, but from the yawning gash In steed of red bloud wallowed venemous gore.

1611.  Speed, Theat. Gt. Brit. (1614), 105/2. At the ebbe and fall of tide it [the well] walloweth up amaine.

1848.  Lowell, Sir Launfal, II. Prel. 43. Through the deep gulf of the chimney wide Wallows the Yule-log’s roaring tide.

1913.  H. Scheffauer, Engl. Rev., Nov., 514. The smoke-funnel tottered, then fell thundering upon the deck towards the stern. Enormous clouds of steam wallowed up from below.

  6.  fig. (cf. sense 3). a. To remain plunged in the mire of sensuality, degraded habits or the like; ‘to live in any state of filth or gross vice’ (J.); to take delight in gross pleasures or a demoralizing way of life. Usu. with in.

c. 1230.  Hali Meid., 13. Þa ilke sari wrecches, þat i þat ilke fule wurðinge, unweddede, walewið.

1340.  Ayenb., 126. We waleweþ ase zuyn hyer beneþe ine þise wose of þise wordle.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 217. To walwe in glotonye & drounkenesse as swyn in þe feen.

a. 1513.  Fabyan, Chron., VI. cxcviii. (1811), 204. He walowed in lechery.

1577.  Wolton, Cast. Christians, H j. Some of them … do wallowe and tumble in al kinde of wickednesse.

1611.  Bible, Ecclus. xxiii. 12. The godly … shall not wallow in their sinnes.

1641.  Milton, Animadv., Wks. 1851, III. 149. To purifie and renew his Church that lay wallowing in Idolatrous pollutions.

1722.  De Foe, Col. Jack (1840), 180. I wallowed in sloth and voluptuous ease.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), II. 81. The corrupted nature would fain wallow like a quadruped in sensual pleasures.

  † b.  To be involved in (error, self-will); to be immersed or engrossed in (some occupation, activity, etc.); to go in and out, be busy among (a body of persons). Obs.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 261. Þerfore sathanas ordeyned þes newe sectis … to walwe among, þe peple & stire hem bi word & ensaumple to be vnstable in þe feiþ.

1399.  Langl., Rich. Redeles, I. 27. Graceles gostis … That … walwed in her willis, ffor-weyned in here youthe.

1415.  Hoccleve, To Sir J. Oldcastle, 318. Þat yee aryse out of your errour soone, þat there-in walwid han goon is ful yore.

1632.  G. Herbert, Priest to Temple, xiv. (1671), 49. There he shall find his flock most naturally as they are, wallowing in the midst of their affairs.

  c.  To abound or ‘roll’ in (wealth, possessions). Chiefly with contemptuous implication. ? Obs.

a. 1425.  Cursor M., 4503 (Trin.). Mon þat waleweþ al in ȝeles [Cott. weltres in his weles].

1564–78.  Bulleyn, Dial. agst. Pest. (1888), 83. This fellow walloweth in benefices, as the Hedgehog doeth with apples upon his prickles.

1610.  Holland, Camden’s Brit. (1637), 742. Egelricke … found such a mighty masse of money buried within the ground … that, wallowing now in wealth, he gave over his Bishopricke.

1679.  Shadwell, True Widow, III. 37. My Lady wallows in money, she knows not what to do with it.

1765.  Wesley, Wks. (1872), III. 238. A man that wallows in gold and silver.

  d.  jocular. To give oneself up unrestrainedly to enjoyment; to revel in.

1887.  Miss Braddon, Like & Unlike, xxiii. I mean to wallow in strawberries and cream for the rest of the evening.

1905.  Vachell, The Hill, v. 121. I used to buy the Police News when I was a kid, and simply wallow in it.

  II.  Transitive senses (chiefly causative).

  † 7.  To cause (a rounded object) to roll on the ground; to trundle. Also with adv., as away, to. Also, to carry forth, transport. Obs.

a. 1380.  St. Augustine, 1331, in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1878), 84. Þis messagers gret ȝiftus ȝauen Seint Austines bodi forte hauen, And forþ wiþ hem þei gonne it walwe, Til þei come to þe toun of Janwe.

1382.  Wyclif, Matt. xxvii. 60. He walowid to a grete stoon at the dore of the biriel. Ibid., Mark xvi. 4. And thei biholdinge syȝen the stoon walewid awey.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 521/2. Welwyn’, or rollyn’ al thyngys þat may not be borne, volvo.

1662.  J. Chandler, Van Helmont’s Oriat., 18. I clearly beheld, that Reason is wallowed up and down, among thick darknesses.

  † 8.  To cause (a person or animal) to roll or toss about; to cause to lie prostrate or immersed (in some liquid or sticky substance). Chiefly refl. and pass. Also fig. Obs.

c. 1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, xviii. (Egipciane), 467. Ay valouand me in þat syne, as sow a medynge dois vithine.

1382.  Wyclif, Mark ix. 19 [20]. And he cast doun in to the erthe, was walewid frothinge [Vulg. Et elisus in terram volutabatur spumans].

a. 1400.  Chaucer, To Rosemounde, 17–8.

1553.  Wilson, Rhet., 116. I was merye here upon this bancke wyth an other prieste, and wallowynge me downe upon the grasse, I said these wordes.

1577.  B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., III. 122. A horse that is weery … wylbe woonderfully refreasshed … yf he may wallow him selfe eyther in the stable, or other dry place.

1611.  Bible, Jer. vi. 26. Gird thee with sackcloth, and wallowe thy selfe in ashes.

1618.  Bolton, Florus, IV. ii. (1636), 281. The yong Kings body was found as it lay wallowed under mud.

1673.  Lady’s Call., Pref. 3. How can a soul that remembers its celestial extraction, wallow itself in the mire.

  † 9.  To cause (the sea) to roll or toss. Obs.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Boeth., I. met. vii. (1886), 19. Yif the trowble wynde þat hyht Auster, turnyng and waluynge the see medleth the hete.

  † 10.  With complement: ? To make (dirty) by wallowing. Obs.

1573–80.  Tusser, Husb. (1878), 191. All dirt and mire some wallow bed, as spanniels vse to doo.

  Hence Wallowing vbl. sb. and ppl. a. Wallowingly adv.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 294. Þet, of þe walewing, rug & side & wombe orn al o grure blode.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 517. Þe wrastlinge [v.rr. walewinge, wallowynge] bitvene hom was somdel toȝt.

1382.  Wyclif, 2 Pet. ii. 22. A sowe waschun in the walewinge of cley [Vulg. in volutabro luti].

a. 1400–50.  Wars Alex., 4064. Wele seldom is þe see with him-selfe turbild Bot with þir walowand windis.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 521/2. Welwynge, volutacio.

1552.  Huloet, Wallowyngelye, volutatim.

1553.  Eden, Treat. New Ind. (Arb.), 16. Their pase in goyng is somewhat slowe & walowinge.

1555.  Watreman, Fardle Facions, Pref. 18. To cutte through the wallowyng seas.

1592.  Nashe, Strange Newes, G 3. Master Stannyhurst … trod a foule lumbring boystrous wallowing measures [sic] in his translation of Virgil.

1606.  Chapman, Mons. D’Olive, II. i. D 1 b. There saw I our great Galliasses tost Vpon the wallowing waues.

1642.  Milton, Apol. Smect., Wks. 1851, III. 317. We cry out Sacriledge and misdevotion against those who in zeale have demolish’t the dens and cages of her uncleane wallowings.

1680.  R. L’Estrange, Sel. Colloq. Erasm., 8. The wallowing of the great Ship overturn’d it.

1684.  Lond. Gaz., No. 1906/4. She [a mare] hath a wallowing pace.

1887.  Morris, Odyss., XII. 219. Drive thou thy ship aloof through the reek and the wallowing sea.

1888.  Bryce, Amer. Commw., II. lxviii. 532. The ringsters of both parties return to their wallowing in the mire. [Echoing 2 Pet. ii. 22.]

1903.  H. Clifford, Free Lance, x. 8. She rose and plunged and rolled wallowingly.