Merriam-Webster's Word Central

September 01, 2012

swelter (verb): \SWEL-ter\
What does it mean?: 1 : to suffer, sweat, or be faint from heat2 : to overcome with heat
How do you use it?: "After the first of three services was dismissed, the mass of humanity which had squished its way into the sweltering interior of the small church poured onto the school grounds . . ." (Mildred D. Taylor, _Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry_)
Are you a word wiz?: Only one of the sentences below uses "swelter" correctly. Which one do you think it is?

A. It was such a warm day that I didn't need a swelter.

B. The explorer sweltered in the jungle heat.

C. The big palm trees sweltered us from the sun.

D. The swelter days of summer are finally over.

If you thought answer B was the hot one, you were right! If you read our definition, you can see that it makes sense for an explorer to swelter in a hot jungle. But what about the other sentences? Sentence A uses "swelter" as a noun, rather than a verb. The word "sweater" would fit better there. Sentence C is on the right track because it uses "swelter" as a verb, but based on the context, "shelter," not "swelter," is the right verb for that sentence. Sentence D is out, too. It's got the "heat" idea behind "swelter" right, but it incorrectly uses "swelter" as an adjective to describe a kind of day.