Welter means to roll, toss, or tumble around in a confused, chaotic way. Picture a ship weltering in stormy seas, pitching and heaving as waves crash over its deck. Or imagine yourself weltering in bed on a hot summer night, rolling from side to side, unable to get comfortable.

The word suggests both physical motion and a sense of disorder or confusion. A battlefield might be described as a welter of smoke and noise, with everything happening at once in a jumbled mess. A student's desk drawer might be a welter of old papers, broken pencils, and mysterious objects.

When used as a noun, welter describes a confused mass or jumble of things. You might say your little brother left a welter of toys across the living room floor, or that a conversation became a welter of different opinions, all competing to be heard. The word carries a sense of things being mixed together without order, like ingredients dumped into a bowl before anyone has stirred them into something organized and useful.