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Oct 14, 2026
This week’s theme
Words that look like misspellings

This week’s words
venust
calender
wheal
exute

wheal
Index, 2005

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wheal

PRONUNCIATION:
(hweel, weel) Listen to pronunciation

MEANING:
noun: A small swelling on the skin, as from an insect bite, an allergic reaction, or a blow.

ETYMOLOGY:
Perhaps an alteration of wale, from Old English walu (ridge). Earliest documented use: before 1390.

USAGE:
“So they gripped again until red wheals rose on their backs and shoulders by reason of the grievous clasping of their arms.”
E.R. Eddison; The Worm Ouroboros; Jonathan Cape; 1922.

See more usage examples of wheal in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The world is mud-luscious ... puddle-wonderful. -E.E. Cummings, poet (14 Oct 1894-1962)

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