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well |
10 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Well \Well\, n. [OE. welle, AS wella, wylla, from weallan to well up surge, boil; akin to D. wel a spring or fountain. ????. See {Well}, v. i.] 1. An issue of water from the earth; a spring; a fountain. Begin, then, sisters of the sacred well --Milton. 2. A pit or hole sunk into the earth to such a depth as to reach a supply of water, generally of a cylindrical form and often walled with stone or bricks to prevent the earth from caving in The woman said unto him Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with and the well is deep. --John iv 11. 3. A shaft made in the earth to obtain oil or brine. 4. Fig.: A source of supply; fountain; wellspring. ``This well of mercy.'' --Chaucer. Dan Chaucer, well of English undefiled. --Spenser. A well of serious thought and pure. --Keble. 5. (Naut.) a An inclosure in the middle of a vessel's hold around the pumps, from the bottom to the lower deck, to preserve the pumps from damage and facilitate their inspection. b A compartment in the middle of the hold of a fishing vessel, made tight at the sides, but having holes perforated in the bottom to let in water for the preservation of fish alive while they are transported to market. c A vertical passage in the stern into which an auxiliary screw propeller may be drawn up out of water. d A depressed space in the after part of the deck; -- often called the cockpit. 6. (Mil.) A hole or excavation in the earth, in mining, from which run branches or galleries. 7. (Arch.) An opening through the floors of a building, as for a staircase or an elevator; a wellhole. 8. (Metal.) The lower part of a furnace, into which the metal falls. {Artesian well}, {Driven well}. See under {Artesian}, and {Driven}. {Pump well}. (Naut.) See {Well}, 5 (a), above. {Well boring}, the art or process of boring an artesian well {Well drain}. a A drain or vent for water, somewhat like a well or pit, serving to discharge the water of wet land. b A drain conducting to a well or pit. {Well room}. a A room where a well or spring is situated; especially, one built over a mineral spring. b (Naut.) A depression in the bottom of a boat, into which water may run, and whence it is thrown out with a scoop. {Well sinker}, one who sinks or digs wells. {Well sinking}, the art or process of sinking or digging wells. {Well staircase} (Arch.), a staircase having a wellhole (see {Wellhole} b ), as distinguished from one which occupies the whole of the space left for it in the floor. {Well sweep}. Same as {Sweep}, n., 12. {Well water}, the water that flows into a well from subterraneous springs; the water drawn from a well From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Well \Well\, v. t. To pour forth, as from a well --Spenser. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Well \Well\, adv [Compar. and superl. wanting, the deficiency being supplied by better and best, from another root.] [OE. wel, AS wel; akin to OS., OFries., & D. wel, G. wohl, OHG. wola, wela, Icel. & Dan. vel, Sw v["a]l, Goth. wa['i]la; originally meaning, according to one's will or wish. See {Will}, v. t., and cf {Wealth}.] 1. In a good or proper manner; justly; rightly; not ill or wickedly. If thou doest not well sin lieth at the door. --Gen. iv 7. 2. Suitably to one's condition, to the occasion, or to a proposed end or use suitably; abundantly; fully; adequately; thoroughly. Lot . . . beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere. --Gen. xiii. 10. WE are wellable to overcome it --Num. xiii. 30. She looketh well to the ways of her household. --Prov. xxxi. 27. Servant of God, well done! well hast thou fought The better fight. --Milton. 3. Fully or about -- used with numbers. [Obs.] ``Well a ten or twelve.'' --Chaucer. Well nine and twenty in a company. --Chaucer. 4. In such manner as is desirable; so as one could wish; satisfactorily; favorably; advantageously; conveniently. ``It boded well to you.'' --Dryden. Know In measure what the mind may well contain. --Milton. All the world speaks well of you --Pope. 5. Considerably; not a little; far Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age. --Gen. xviii. 11. Note: Well is sometimes used elliptically for it is well as an expression of satisfaction with what has been said or done and sometimes it expresses concession, or is merely expletive; as well the work is done well let us go well well be it so Note: Well like above, ill, and so is used before many participial adjectives in its usual adverbial senses and subject to the same custom with regard to the use of the hyphen (see the Note under {Ill}, adv.); as a well-affected supporter; he was well affected toward the project; a well-trained speaker; he was well trained in speaking; well-educated, or well educated; well-dressed, or well dressed; well-appearing; well-behaved; well-controlled; well-designed; well-directed; well-formed; well-meant; well-minded; well-ordered; well-performed; well-pleased; well-pleasing; well-seasoned; well-steered; well-tasted; well-told, etc Such compound epithets usually have an obvious meaning, and since they may be formed at will only a few of this class are given in the Vocabulary. {As well}. See under {As}. {As well as}, and also together with not less than one as much as the other as a sickness long, as well as severe; London is the largest city in England, as well as the capital. {Well enough}, well or good in a moderate degree; so as to give satisfaction, or so as to require no alteration. {Well off}, in good condition; especially, in good condition as to property or any advantages; thriving; prosperous. {Well to do}, well off prosperous; -- used also adjectively. ``The class well to do in the world.'' --J. H. Newman. {Well to live}, in easy circumstances; well off well to do --Shak. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Well \Well\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Welled}; p. pr & vb n. {Welling}.] [OE. wellen, AS wyllan wellan, fr weallan akin to OFries walla, OS & OHG. wallan, G. wallen, Icel. vella, G. welle, wave, OHG. wella, walm, AS wylm; cf L. volvere to roll, Gr ? to inwrap, ? to roll. Cf {Voluble}, {Wallop} to boil, {Wallow}, {Weld} of metal.] To issue forth, as water from the earth; to flow; to spring. ``[Blood] welled from out the wound.'' --Dryden. ``[Yon spring] wells softly forth.'' --Bryant. From his two springs in Gojam's sunny realm, Pure welling out he through the lucid lake Of fair Dambea rolls his infant streams. --Thomson. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: We'll \We'll\ Contraction for we will or we shall. ``We'll follow them.'' --Shak. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Well \Well\, a. 1. Good in condition or circumstances; desirable, either in a natural or moral sense fortunate; convenient; advantageous; happy; as it is well for the country that the crops did not fail it is well that the mistake was discovered. It was well with us in Egypt. --Num. xi 18. 2. Being in health; sound in body; not ailing, diseased, or sick; healthy; as a well man; the patient is perfectly well ``Your friends are well.'' --Shak. Is your father well the old man of whom ye spake? --Gen. xliii. 27. 3. Being in favor; favored; fortunate. He followed the fortunes of that family, and was well with Henry the Fourth --Dryden. 4. (Marine Insurance) Safe; as a chip warranted well at a certain day and place --Burrill. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 7. To proceed by a mental operation; to pass in mind or by an act of the memory or imagination; -- generally with over or through By going over all these particulars, you may receive some tolerable satisfaction about this great subject. --South. 8. To be with young; to be pregnant; to gestate. The fruit she goes with I pray for heartily, that it may find Good time, and live. --Shak. 9. To move from the person speaking, or from the point whence the action is contemplated; to pass away to leave to depart; -- in opposition to stay and come I will let you go that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God; . . . only ye shall not go very far away --Ex. viii. 28. 10. To pass away to depart forever; to be lost or ruined; to perish; to decline to decease; to die. By Saint George, he's gone! That spear wound hath our master sped. --Sir W. Scott. 11. To reach; to extend; to lead; as a line goes across the street; his land goes to the river; this road goes to New York. His amorous expressions go no further than virtue may allow --Dryden. 12. To have recourse; to resort; as to go to law. Note: Go is used in combination with many prepositions and adverbs, to denote motion of the kind indicated by the preposition or adverb, in which and not in the verb lies the principal force of the expression; as to go against to go into to go out to go aside, to go astray, etc {Go to}, come move go away -- a phrase of exclamation, serious or ironical. {To go a-begging}, not to be in demand; to be undesired. {To go about}. a To set about to enter upon a scheme of action to undertake. ``They went about to slay him.'' --Acts ix 29. They never go about . . . to hide or palliate their vices. --Swift. b (Naut.) To tack; to turn the head of a ship; to wear. {To go abraod}. a To go to a foreign country. b To go out of doors. c To become public; to be published or disclosed; to be current. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren. --John xxi. 23. {To go against}. a To march against; to attack. b To be in opposition to to be disagreeable to {To go ahead}. a To go in advance. b To go on to make progress; to proceed. {To go and come}. See {To come and go}, under {Come}. {To go aside}. a To withdraw; to retire. He . . . went aside privately into a desert place --Luke. ix 10. b To go from what is right to err. --Num. v. 29. {To go back on}. a To retrace (one's path or footsteps). b To abandon; to turn against; to betray. [Slang, U. S.] {To go below} (Naut), to go below deck. {To go between}, to interpose or mediate between; to be a secret agent between parties; in a bad sense to pander. {To go beyond}. See under {Beyond}. {To go by}, to pass away unnoticed; to omit. {To go by the board} (Naut.), to fall or be carried overboard; as the mast went by the board. {To go down}. a To descend. b To go below the horizon; as the sun has gone down c To sink; to founder; -- said of ships, etc d To be swallowed; -- used literally or figuratively. [Colloq.] Nothing so ridiculous, . . . but it goes down whole with him for truth. --L' Estrange. {To go far}. a To go to a distance. b To have much weight or influence. {To go for}. a To go in quest of b To represent; to pass for c To favor; to advocate. d To attack; to assault. [Low] e To sell for to be parted with for (a price). {To go for nothing}, to be parted with for no compensation or result; to have no value, efficacy, or influence; to count for nothing. {To go forth}. a To depart from a place b To be divulged or made generally known to emanate. The law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. --Micah iv 2. {To go hard with}, to trouble, pain, or endanger. {To go in}, to engage in to take part [Colloq.] {To go in and out}, to do the business of life; to live; to have free access --John x. 9. {To go in for}. [Colloq.] a To go for to favor or advocate (a candidate, a measure, etc.). b To seek to acquire or attain to (wealth, honor, preferment, etc.) c To complete for (a reward, election, etc.). d To make the object of one's labors, studies, etc He was as ready to go in for statistics as for anything else. --Dickens. {To go in to} or {unto}. a To enter the presence of --Esther iv 16. b To have sexual intercourse with [Script.] {To go into}. a To speak of investigate, or discuss (a question, subject, etc.). b To participate in (a war, a business, etc.). {To go large}. (Naut) See under {Large}. {To go off}. a To go away to depart. The leaders . . . will not go off until they hear you --Shak. b To cease; to intermit; as this sickness went off c To die. --Shak. d To explode or be discharged; -- said of gunpowder, of a gun, a mine, etc e To find a purchaser; to be sold or disposed of f To pass off to take place to be accomplished. The wedding went off much as such affairs do --Mrs. Caskell. {To go on}. a To proceed; to advance further; to continue; as to go on reading. b To be put or drawn on to fit over as the coat will not go on {To go all fours}, to correspond exactly, point for point. It is not easy to make a simile go on all fours. --Macaulay. {To go out}. a To issue forth from a place b To go abroad; to make an excursion or expedition. There are other men fitter to go out than I. --Shak. What went ye out for to see ? --Matt. xi 7, 8, 9. c To become diffused, divulged, or spread abroad, as news fame etc d To expire; to die; to cease; to come to an end as the light has gone out Life itself goes out at thy displeasure. --Addison. {To go over}. a To traverse; to cross, as a river, boundary, etc.; to change sides. I must not go over Jordan. --Deut. iv 22. Let me go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan. --Deut. iii. 25. Ishmael . . . departed to go over to the Ammonites. --Jer. xli. 10. b To read, or study; to examine; to review; as to go over one's accounts. If we go over the laws of Christianity, we shall find that . . . they enjoin the same thing --Tillotson. c To transcend; to surpass. d To be postponed; as the bill went over for the session. e (Chem.) To be converted (into a specified substance or material); as monoclinic sulphur goes over into orthorhombic, by standing; sucrose goes over into dextrose and levulose. {To go through}. a To accomplish; as to go through a work b To suffer; to endure to the end as to go through a surgical operation or a tedious illness. c To spend completely; to exhaust, as a fortune. d To strip or despoil one of his property. [Slang] e To botch or bungle a business. [Scot.] {To go through with}, to perform, as a calculation, to the end to complete. {To go to ground}. a To escape into a hole; -- said of a hunted fox. b To fall in battle. {To go to naught} (Colloq.), to prove abortive, or unavailling. {To go under}. a To set -- said of the sun. b To be known or recognized by (a name title, etc.). c To be overwhelmed, submerged, or defeated; to perish; to succumb. {To go up}, to come to nothing; to prove abortive; to fail [Slang] {To go upon}, to act upon as a foundation or hypothesis. {To go with}. a To accompany. b To coincide or agree with c To suit; to harmonize with {To go} ( {well}, {ill}, or {hard}) {with}, to affect one in such manner. {To go without}, to be or to remain, destitute of {To go wrong}. a To take a wrong road or direction; to wander or stray. b To depart from virtue. c To happen unfortunately. d To miss success. {To let go}, to allow to depart; to quit one's hold to release. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: well adj 1: in good health especially after having suffered illness or injury; "appears to be entirely well"; "the wound is nearly well"; "a well man"; "I think I'm well at least I feel well" [ant: {ill}] 2: resulting favorably; "its a good thing that I wasn't there"; "it is good that you stayed"; "it is well that no one saw you"; "all's well that ends well" [syn: {good}, {well(p)}] 3: wise or advantageous and hence advisable; "it would be well to start early" [syn: {well(p)}] n 1: a deep hole or shaft dug or drilled to obtain water or oil or gas or brine 2: a cavity or vessel used to contain liquid 3: an abundant source; "she was a well of information" [syn: {wellspring}, {fountainhead}] 4: an open shaft through the floors of a building (as for a stairway) 5: an enclosed compartment in a ship or plane for holding something as e.g. fish or a plane's landing gear or for protecting something as e.g. a ship's pumps adv 1: (often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard; "the children behaved well"; "a task well done"; "the party went well"; "he slept well"; "a well-argued thesis"; "a well-planned party"; (`good' is a nonstandard dialectal variant for `well' as in "the baby can walk pretty good") [syn: {good}] [ant: {ill}] 2: thoroughly or completely; fully; often used as a combining form "The problem is well understood"; "she was well informed"; "shake well before using"; "in order to avoid food poisoning be sure the meat is well cooked"; "well-done beef", "well-satisfied customers"; "well-educated" 3: indicating high probability; in all likelihood; "I might well do it"; "a mistake that could easily have ended in disaster"; "you may well need your umbrella"; "he could equally well be trying to deceive us" [syn: {easily}] 4: (used for emphasis or as an intensifier) "a book well worth reading"; "was well aware of the difficulties ahead"; "suspected only too well what might be going on" 5: to a suitable or appropriate extent or degree; "the project was well underway"; "the fetus has well developed organs"; "his father was well pleased with his grades" 6: favorably; with approval; "their neighbors spoke well of them"; "he thought well of the book" [ant: {ill}] 7: to a great extent or degree; "I'm afraid the film was well over budget"; "painting the room white made it seem considerably (or substantially) larger"; "the house has fallen considerably in value"; "the price went up substantially" [syn: {considerably}, {substantially}] 8: with great or especially intimate knowledge; "we knew them well [syn: {intimately}] 9: with prudence or propriety; "You would do well to say nothing more"; "could not well refuse" 10: with skill or in a pleasing manner; "she dances well"; "he writes well" [ant: {badly}] 11: in a manner affording benefit or advantage; "she married well"; "The children were settled advantageously in Seattle" [syn: {advantageously}] [ant: {badly}, {badly}] 12: in financial comfort; "They live well"; "she has been able to live comfortably since her husband died" [syn: {comfortably}] 13: without unusual distress or resentment; with good humor; "took the joke well"; "took the tragic news well" [ant: {badly}] v : come up as of liquids: "Tears well in her eyes" [syn: {swell}] From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]: Well (Heb. beer), to be distinguished from a fountain (Heb. 'ain). A beer" was a deep shaft, bored far under the rocky surface by the art of man, which contained water which percolated through the strata in its sides. Such wells were those of Jacob and Beersheba, etc (see Gen. 21:19, 25, 30, 31; 24:11; 26:15, 18-25, 32, etc.). In the Pentateuch this word beer, so rendered, occurs twenty-five times. From V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms 13 March 2001 [vera]: WELL Whole Earth 'Lectronic Net (network)
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