welt

/wɛlt/

/wɛlt/

Other forms: welts; welted; welting

If someone hits you hard with a thin stick, your skin might rise up in a welt. Ouch. A welt is a swollen bruise.

The extra bit of stitching around the pocket of your jeans can also be called a welt, as can the stitching that holds your shoe to its sole. In these cases, as well as in the case of the mark on the skin, a welt is a rising where things meet — either where a blow meets the body or where two types of fabric meet each other.

Definitions of welt

1. noun

   a raised mark on the skin (as produced by the blow of a whip); characteristic of many allergic reactions
   synonyms: wale, weal, wheal

   type of:

   harm, hurt, injury, trauma

   any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc.
2. noun

   a raised or strengthened seam
   type of:

   seam

   joint consisting of a line formed by joining two pieces
3. verb

   beat severely with a whip or rod
   synonyms: flog, lash, lather, slash, strap, trounce, whip

   types:

   flagellate, scourge

   whip

   leather

   whip with a leather strap

   horsewhip

   whip with a whip intended for horses

   switch

   flog with or as if with a flexible rod

   cowhide

   flog with a cowhide

   cat

   beat with a cat-o'-nine-tails

   birch

   whip with a birch twig

   type of:

   beat, beat up, work over

   give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression
4. verb

   put a welt on
   “welt the shoes”

   type of:

   add

   make an addition (to); join or combine or unite with others; increase the quality, quantity, size or scope of