
[Middle English welle, from Old English.]

as well
[Middle English wel, from Old English.]
USAGE NOTE English speakers have used well both as an adjective and as an adverb since Old English times. When applied to people, the adjective well usually refers to a state of health. Like similar adjectives, such as ill and faint, well in this use is normally restricted to the predicate, as in He hasn't been well lately. Well does see occasional use before a noun, as in Benjamin Franklin's "Poor Dick eats like a well man, and drinks like a sick." It also appears in compound adjectives like well-baby, which is well known to pediatricians and recent parents. Good, on the other hand, has a much wider range of senses, including "attractive," as in He looks good, and "competent," as in She's pretty good for a beginner, as well as "healthy." See Usage Notes at good.
| weird, weir, wed | |
| well-nigh, welsh, werewolf |
An artificial excavation made to extract water, oil, gas, brine, or other fluid substance from the earth. Most wells are of the drilled type. Dug wells are almost obsolete, because of the greater speed of drilling and the greater efficiency of drilled wells. See also Artesian systems; Oil and gas well drilling.
Drilled wells, commonly 2–36 in. (5–90 cm) in diameter, usually are fitted with a steel tube or casing inserted in the drilled hole to the desired depth. Where the water-bearing formation is competent to stand without support, the casing is set, or finished, at the top of solid rock. Where there is danger of caving, as in sand or gravel, the casing is carrried below the top of the water-bearing bed, and a perforated pipe or screen extends below the casing to the bottom of the hole. The construction includes a considerable period of pumping, surging, or other treatment (called well development), during which the finer particles of the formation are drawn into the well and removed. This process substantially increases the initial yield of the well.
Most wells of large capacity are equipped with pumps of the deep-well turbine type to lift the water to the surface. When a well is pumped, the pressure head at the well is lowered and a hydraulic gradient toward the well is established which causes water to flow toward the well. This lowering of head is called drawdown. See also Ground-water hydrology; Pumping machinery.
noun
verb
well2
adverb
adjective
Idioms beginning with well:
well and good
well off
well out of, be
well preserved
well's run dry, the
See also alive and kicking (well); all's well that ends well; all very well; as well; as well as; augur well for; damn well; do well; full well; get well; hanged for a sheep, might as well be; leave well enough alone; only too (well); sit well with; think a lot (well) of; to a fare-thee-well; very well; wear well.
Definition: healthy
Antonyms: diseased, ill, sick, unhealthy
adj
Definition: lucky, fortunate
Antonyms: unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky
adv
Definition: happily, pleasantly; capably
Antonyms: badly, incapably, unpleasantly
adv
Definition: sufficiently
Antonyms: badly, insufficiently
Healing or holy wells are rarer in England than in Scotland, Wales, or Ireland; even so, almost 200 are extant, and hundreds more once existed, as indicated on old documents. Those that remain are often regarded as wishing wells. They are the latest phase in a long tradition of ritual activity, traceable archaeo-logically through Roman and Celtic culture to prehistoric times; its present form was shaped by medieval Catholicism, where wells were often dedicated to a saint—sometimes a local one. Thus, St Oswald's Well at Winwick (Cheshire) reputedly marks the place where he was killed; St Withburga's Well at East Dereham (Norfolk), the place where she was buried; St Chad's Well at Lichfield (Staffordshire) was sanctified by the fact that he baptized converts there.
Medieval pilgrimage centres often had holy wells; the water of one in Canterbury Cathedral (now blocked up) allegedly turned red when dust stained with Thomas à Beckett's blood was thrown into it, and little flasks of it were sold to pilgrims and drunk as medicine. The ailments most often mentioned in connection with medieval wells were sore eyes, skin diseases, epilepsy, and insanity. Some were said to enable barren women to conceive after drinking the water, for example Bore Well near Bingfield (Northumberland), and Child's Well at Oxford. During the vogue for spas in the 18th and 19th centuries, the medicinal value of some ancient water-sources was recognized, notably at Bath (Somerset) and Malvern (Herefordshire).
Medieval ritual usually involved making an offering, while folk customs include dropping pins or coins in, and tying strips of cloth to nearby trees. The latter had become rare by the 19th century, though a few ‘rag-trees’ remained in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cornwall. Currently, there seem to be three: one at St Helen's Well at Walton, the second at St Helen's Well at Eshton (both in Yorkshire), the third at a unnamed well at Madron (Cornwall) which is still much visited. The modern pilgrimages to Walsingham (Norfolk) also involve drinking from a holy well, and there is a cult of the ‘Chalice Well’ at Glastonbury.
From the 17th century onwards, certain wells were credited with prophetic powers. One at Oundle (Northamptonshire) emitted noises like a drum beating a march. Richard Baxter, in The Certainty of the World of Spirits Fully Evinced (1691), 157, says he heard it himself as a boy when a Scottish invasion was expected, and that it was also heard at the death of Charles II. St Helen's Well at Rushton Spencer (Staffordshire) would dry up, and St Nipperton's Well at Ashill (Somerset) would ebb and flow, before national calamities. Others offered omens for individuals; if the shirt or shift of a sick person floated when thrown into a certain well dedicated to St Oswald, he or she would recover, but if not, not.
See also WELL-DRESSING, WISHING WELLS.
Bibliography
The full bibliography list is available here.
Pit or shaft, sometimes lined with stone or wood, dug from the ground surface to a point below the local water table so as to allow the bottom of the well to fill with water as a small reservoir accessible by lowering a bucket or receptacle down from above. Some wells are fitted with a cover, others with a protective wall around the top. Some are fitted with a winding mechanism to raise and lower the bucket, or a pump to raise the water by suction. Recesses in the top section of the well shaft were sometimes built as storage places for foodstuffs that are best stored in cool conditions. Wells are sometimes associated with special powers or as links to the underworld.
Well done is better than well said.
— Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), American entrepreneur, statesman, scientist and philosopher.
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The depth of emotional and spiritual resources, a well in a dream often represents knowledge and nurturance, a place from which emotions "well up." It can also symbolize good health and physical well-being.
| weirdo, weirdie, weight | |
| well-hung, welly, west |

Dansk (Danish)
1.
adv. - godt, vel-, langt
adj. - godt
int. - tja! nåh!, hmm!
idioms:
2.
n. - brønd, kilde, beholder, fordybning, skakt, dam, smelterum, sump, hjulbrønd, advokatloge
v. intr. - springe, vælde op
v. tr. - vælde, strømme, flyde
idioms:
Nederlands (Dutch)
bron, (water)put, oliebron, goed, in orde, best, flink, gezond, bekwaam, nou...(in conversatie), putachtige ruimte (zoals trappenhuis), wellen
Français (French)
1.
adv. - bien, largement, bien au-delà, avec approbation, bien du/de (plaisir), aussi, (GB) (c'était) d'enfer (fam)
adj. - bien, bon, prudent de, conseillé de, (avoir) de la chance que
int. - eh bien, tant pis!, bon, ça alors!, bon (pause dans une conversation), enfin (jugement)
idioms:
2.
n. - puits, source, (Constr) cage, (GB, Jur) barreau
v. intr. - monter, jaillir
v. tr. - se déverser
idioms:
Deutsch (German)
1.
adv. - gut, gründlich, weit, sehr wohl, ohne weiteres
adj. - gesund, in Ordnung, ratsam
int. - so, nun, na ja
idioms:
2.
n. - Brunnen, Heilquelle, Quell
v. - wallen, sich ergießen
idioms:
Ελληνική (Greek)
adv. - καλά, καλώς, ευτυχώς, προσεχτικά, πιθανότατα, φυσικά, αρκετά, κάμποσο επαρκώς, σχεδόν, ορθά, σωστά, ολότελα, τελείως
adj. - καλά (στην υγεία)
int. - το λοιπόν!, που λες!, μπα;, αδύνατον!, ίσως, καλά
n. - πηγάδι, φρέαρ, φρεάτιο, πηγή, κλιμακοστάσιο, φωταγωγός, πετρελαιοπηγή
v. - κυλώ, αναβλύζω, πλημμυρίζω
pref. - καλο-
idioms:
Italiano (Italian)
scaturire, sgorgare, zampillare, bene, pozzo, pozzo petrolifero, sano
idioms:
Português (Portuguese)
adv. - bem, perfeitamente, razoavelmente
adj. - bom, adequado
int. - bom!
n. - poço (m), fonte (f), tanque (f)
v. - jorrar
idioms:
Русский (Russian)
хорошо, благоприятно, зажиточно, значительно, разумно, тщательно, очень, вполне, здоровый, хороший, зажиточный, удачный, желательный, добро, колодец, источник, водоем, лестничная клетка, шахта лифта, подниматься (о воде), ну!, итак
idioms:
Español (Spanish)
1.
adv. - bien, correctamente, competentemente, completamente, sobradamente, honestamente, con razón, muy, mucho
adj. - bien, bueno, satisfactorio, adecuado, conveniente, sano, en buena salud, curado
int. - bueno!, vaya!, ¡vamos!, toma!
idioms:
2.
n. - pozo, aljibe, manantial
v. intr. - brotar, manar, fluir
v. tr. - verter, derramar, vaciar
idioms:
Svenska (Swedish)
adv. - bra, väl, gott
adj. - frisk, bra, väl
int. - nå, ja, jo, nåväl
n. - väl, gott, brunn, källa, trapphus, hisschakt, hål
v. - välla
pref. - väl-
中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
很好地, 好意地, 适当地, 建康的, 适宜的, 良好的, 好啦, 咳, 井, 源泉, 泉水, 涌起, 升起, 溢出, 涌出
idioms:
中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
1.
n. - 井;水井;油井;泉源
v. intr. - 湧上;流出;冒出;湧出
v. tr. - 湧出
idioms:
2.
adv. - 有利地;妥善地;令人滿意地;好
adj. - 良好地;令人滿意的;健康的;對的
int. - 好啦, 咳
idioms:
한국어 (Korean)
1.
adv. - 만족히, 상당히
adj. - 건강한, 좋은, 타당한
int. - (놀라움) 이것 참, (망설임) 그런데, (정세의 확인) 그러면
idioms:
2.
n. - 우물, 샘
v. intr. - 솟아 나오다, 분출하다
v. tr. - 분출 시키다
idioms:
日本語 (Japanese)
adv. - うまく, 適切に, 申し分なく, どうしても, 十分に, かなり, よく
adj. - 健康で, 都合がいい, 適当な
int. - おやおや, そうですね, ええと, おや, まあ, さて, やれやれ, まあいいさ
n. - 井戸, 井, 泉, 源泉, 弁護士席, 縦穴, 吹き抜け, 良いこと
v. - わき出る
idioms:
العربيه (Arabic)
(ظرف) جيدا, خيرا, كثيرا, تماما (صفه) بحق, بعدل, بسهوله, برفاهيه, برباطه الجأش (نداء) جيد, حسنا (الاسم) ينبوع, بئر, بئر السلم, بئر المصعد (فعل) يتفجر, ينبحس, ينبع, يدفق (بادئه الكلمه) حسن, جيد
עברית (Hebrew)
adv. - טוב, היטב, כיאות, כראוי, בהרבה, במידה ניכרת, בצדק, בדין, במצב טוב, מוטב, בכישרון, באופן משביע רצון, באופן יסודי
adj. - טוב, בריא, רצוי
int. - טוב, בסדר, ובכן
n. - באר, מקור, מעיין, פיר, ארובת-מעלית, מחיצת הפרקליטים, טובה, רווחה, אושר, איזור של פוטנציאל מזערי (פיסיקה)
v. intr. - פרץ, קלח
v. tr. - זרם
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