welter

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The Word of the Day for April 24 is: 

welter   \WEL-ter\   verb
     1 a : writhe, toss; also : wallow *b : to rise and fall or toss about in 
or with waves 
     2 : to become deeply sunk, soaked, or involved 
     3 : to be in turmoil 

Example sentence:
     The ship tossed and weltered upon the waves in the ocean.

Did you know?
     "Welter" can be used both as a noun (meaning "turmoil" or "chaos") and a 
verb. Which part of speech is older? The verb. It has been part of English 
since at least the 1300s, while the earliest uses of the noun date from the 
late 1590s. Both noun and verb have roots related to Dutch and Germanic terms 
meaning "to roll," and both have found a place in English literature. The verb 
helps demonstrate extreme despair in the early Arthurian legend _Morte Arthure_ 
("He welterys, he wristeles, he wrynges hys handes!"), and in 1837 Thomas 
Carlyle used the noun in _The French Revolution_ ("I leave the whole business 
in a frightful welter: ... not one of them understands anything of government").

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.