Found On the Way to Someplace Else

whelm |(h)welm|
verb [with obj.] archaic or literary
engulf, submerge, or bury (someone or something): a swimmer whelmed in a raging storm.
• [no obj.] flow or heap up abundantly: the brook whelmed up from its source.
noun archaic or literary
an act or instance of flowing or heaping up abundantly; a surge: the whelm of the tide.
ORIGIN Middle English: representing an Old English form parallel to hwelfan ‘overturn (a vessel).’