Well sb.¹

Forms: α. 1 wælla (uælla), 1, 3 wælle (1 uælle), 3–5 walle, 3–4 wall, 4–5 wal; Sc. and north. 6– wall (6 vall, 9 wal), 6–7 woll (6 vol). β. 1 wella, 1, 3–5 welle (4–5 wele), 1– well, 3–7 wel. γ. 1 wylla, willa, wielle, 1, 4 wylle, 1, 3–4 wille; 1 wyl, 1–4 wyll, 1, 5 will. [OE. wielle (wylle), *wiell (wyll, will), str. masc., *wiella (wylla, willa; Anglian wælla, wella), wk. masc., wielle (wylle, wille; Angl. wælle, welle), wk. fem., f. the stem of weall-an to boil or bubble up: see WALL v.¹ Cf. OHG. wella (G. welle) wave, ON. vella boiling heat.]

  1.  A spring of water rising to the surface of the earth and forming a small pool or flowing in a stream; a pool (or, rarely, a stream) fed by a spring. Now arch. or dial.

  α.  c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter, xli. 2. Swe swe heorut ʓewillað to wællum wetra swe ʓewillað sawul min to ðe god.

c. 1205.  Lay., 17025. Summe heo uerden a-nan þat heo comen to Alæban þat is a wælle.

a. 1240.  [see 2 d.].

c. 1440.  Floris & Bl., 291 (Cambr. MS.). Aboue þe walle stant atreo.

c. 1450.  Mirk’s Festial, 179. Anon sprang a fayr walle.

1535.  Stewart, Cron. Scot., II. 219. Out of ane woll discendand fra ane spring, He send that tyme cald water for to bring.

1567.  Rec. Burgh Lanark (1893), 39. That na personis wysche ony clathis … at the burne nor yit at Sanct Mungois wall.

1595.  Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot., 91/2. Fra the said puill eist to ane wall callit the Dokandwell.

1652.  in Edin. Topogr. & Antiq. Mag. (1848), 152. Going to the Kirktowne wall and washing of her daughter’s eyen, & saying … All ye ill of my bairn’s eyen in ye wall fall.

1775.  Companion to Map of Peebles, 107. There is a remarkable fine spring, called Geddes’s wall, near the top [of Broad Law].

a. 1806.  R. Jamieson, Pop. Ballads, I. 61. Tak me to yon wall fair; You’ll wash my bluidy wounds o’er and o’er.

  β.  c. 900.  Bæda’s Hist., V. x. (1890), 418. Is ðæt ec sæd þætte in ðere stowe, þer hio ofsleʓne weran, weolle an welle.

c. 1205.  Lay., 19782. Heo comen to þare welle and heore bollen feolde.

c. 1220.  Bestiary, 62. A welle he sekeð ðat springeð ai boðe bi nigt and bi dai.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 15. Vor engelonde is vol inoȝ of frut & ek of tren, Of wellen swete & colde.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 12470. Þe spring … o well,… þof it euer vte rinnand es þe wel es neuer mar þe less.

a. 1366[?].  Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 1417. About the brinkes of thise welles … Sprang up the gras.

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 326. He strawhte him forto drinke Upon the freisshe welles brinke.

1422.  Yonge, trans. Secreta Secret., 245. [In autumn] Wellis wythdrawen ham, grene thynges fadyth, Frutes fallyth.

c. 1470.  Golagros & Gaw., 40. Thay walkit be the syde of ane fair well.

1547.  Boorde, Introd. Knowl., vi. (1870), 141. There be welles, the whyche doth tourne wood in to Irone.

1574.  T. Hill, Art Garden., II. Bees, etc., 69. And when ryuers and wels be shallower of water than customably, doe then declare raine to followe.

1603.  Stow, Surv., 11. Then was there 3. principall Fountaines, or wels in the other Suburbs, to wit Holy well, Clements well, and Clarkes well. Neare vnto this last named fountaine, were diuers other wels.

1663.  R. Lowe, Lancs. Diary (1876), 8. I went with Mary and other wenches to a well [at the] bottom of towne feild.

1775.  R. Chandler, Trav. Asia M. (1825), I. 121. At a well was a marble pedestal perforated, and serving as a mouth.

1832.  W. Irving, Alhambra, I. 249. I laid myself down one noontide, and slept under a palm tree by the side of a scanty well.

1859.  Jephson, Brittany, vi. 68. The well flows in a pure and abundant stream from the granite rock.

1870.  Handbk. Orkney Isl., 94. There are several mineral wells in the island.

1892.  J. A. Henderson, Ann. Lower Deeside, 169. He at last reached what proved to be a well of water.

  γ.  c. 893.  Ælfred, Oros., IV. vii. § 10. An wæs þæt on Piceno þæm wuda an wielle weol blode.

c. 900.  Bæda’s Hist., I. vii. (1890), 38. And þa sona hraðe beforan his fotum wæs wyl upp yrnende…. And nu seo wylle & þæt wæter [etc.].

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., I. 116. Ðeos wyrt [watercress] … of hyre sylfre cenned bið, on wyllon & on brocen. Ibid., II. 32. And aþweah eft þa eaʓan on clænum wylle.

c. 1305.  St. Kenelm, 295, in E. E. P., 55. For þer is a wille fair ynouȝ … In þe stede as he lai on.

c. 1315.  Shoreham, Poems, v. 55. Þe wylle þat hys in paradys Fol wel by-tokeneþ þys auys.

13[?].  Cursor M., 20212 (B. Mus. Add.). Sche dide of hure cloþes alle, and wasche hure with water of wille.

  b.  A miraculous spring of water (or oil); a spring of water supposed to be of miraculous origin or to have supernatural healing powers; also, in later use, a medicinal or mineral spring.

  Freq. in proper names assigning the well to a particular saint.

854–.  [see HOLY WELL].

c. 1305.  St. Kenelm, 295, 297, in E. E. P. (1862), 55. A wil spring vp þere stod … Þat me clepeþ seint kenelmes welle: þat menie men haþ isoȝt.

c. 1440.  Stacyons of Rome, 828, in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903), 171. Two wellis there bethe, I tell thee, that sprynggythe oyle.

c. 1450.  Mirk’s Festial, 14. And whan he was buryet, at þe hed of þe tombe sprong a well of oyle þat dyd medysyn to all seke.

1581.  Sc. Acts Jas. VI., III. 212/2. Aganis passing in pilgramage to chapellis wellis and croces.

1591.  Shaks., Two Gent., IV. ii. 84. Th. Where meete we? Pro. At Saint Gregories well.

1632.  L. Rowzee (title), The Queenes Welles. That is, A Treatise of the nature and vertues of Tunbridge Water.

1648.  Gage, West Ind., 5. [Papists] encroaching upon many Houses and Farmes, enriching themselves, as namely at Winifreds Well (so termed by them) where they had bought an Inne.

a. 1774.  Fergusson, Poems, Daft Days, 35. Reaming ale, Mair precious than the well o’ Spa, Our hearts to heal.

1806.  P. O’Neill, Tour Orkney, etc., 26. I likewise visited the wells of Kildingie…. These wells or springs, are situated in the Mill Bay.

1824.  Scott (title), St. Ronan’s Well.

1882.  W. Taylor, Researches Hist. Tain, i. 27, note. A copious fountain of pure water situated on … the girth boundary in the heights of the parish … has from time immemorial borne the name of St. David’s well.

1904.  A. C. Fraser, Biog. Philos., i. 26. The Priory … and the well and chapel oi St. Modan on the hill, were my favourite haunts.

  c.  pl. A place where medicinal springs exist, to which invalids resort; a watering-place or spa.

1673.  Shadwell, Epsom-Wells, I. i. Enter Mrs. Woodly,… to Toby and others, drinking at the Wells.

1707.  in J. Ashton, Soc. Life Q. Anne (1882), II. 113. The New Wells at Epsom, with variety of Raffling Shops, will be open’d on Easter Monday next.

1716.  Lond. Gaz., No. 5459/1. The Princess set out … for the Wells of Medway.

1728.  Young, Love Fame, V. 23. Thro’ every sign of vanity they run; Assemblies, Parks,… Balls, Wells, Bedlams, [etc.].

  † d.  Her. The representation of a stream, used as a bearing. Obs.

1486.  Bk. St. Albans, Her. e vj b. And of hym y^t beris thes armys ye most say … He berith of golde and .iij. Wellis.

  e.  A fountain fed by a spring; a structure erected above a spring for convenience in obtaining the water; a drinking-fountain. Chiefly Sc.

1575–6.  in Burgh Rec. Glasgow (1876), 457. Item, to Johne Wilsoun for four geistis to the woll in Gallowgait … viij lib. Ibid. (1630), 373. The new woll in the Trongait to be sklaittet in the best forme. Ibid. (1638), 390. Ane warrand … for taking doun the wall at the Croce. Ibid. (1656), (1881), 351. The twa new wallis newlie buildit in Trongait and at the vennall.

1823.  Galt, R. Gilhaize, III. 34. She was mobbet, and the wells pumped upon her by the enraged multitude.

1843.  G. P. R. James, Forest Days, i. It had on the south side, a well, and an iron ladle underneath.

  2.  transf. and fig. a. In allusive contexts directly suggestive of the nature (flowing, etc.) or uses (drinking, taking water) of a spring.

c. 897.  K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., vii. 49 (MS. Hatton). Hio [the speech] aweoll of anum wille [Cott. welle]; ðeah heo an tu tefleowe, ðeah wæs sio æspryng sio soðe lufu.

c. 1220.  Bestiary, 341. Ðanne we ðus brennen bihoueð us to rennen to cristes quike welle … drinken his wissing.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 282. In hire he heldeð nout one dropemele, auh ȝeoteð vlowinde wellen of his grace.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 310. Fader is he cald for-þi þat he is welle þat neuer sal dri. Ibid., 21023. O þe wel o witt he dranc.

c. 1315.  Shoreham, V. 61. Þys wulle hys god self man by-come, Of hym þys ioyen beþ alle y-nome.

13[?].  Lay Folks’ Catech. (L.), 190. Crist was þe furst qwyk welle of grace.

c. 1420.  Prymer, 68. Mi soule þirstide to god, þat is a quyk welle!

1568.  T. Howell, Arb. Amitie (1879), 52. O noble hart whose Well of grace, shall spring and neuer drie.

1807.  Crabbe, Par. Reg., I. 98. Not one who, early by the Muse beguiled, Drank from her well the waters undefiled.

1840.  Longf., Sp. Stud., I. v. O sleep,… Holding unto our lips thy goblet filled Out of Oblivion’s well, a healing draught!

1899.  J. P. Fitzpatrick, Transvaal fr. within, i. 25. The effect of the annexation was to start the wells of plenty bubbling—with British Gold.

  b.  That from which something springs or arises; a source or origin.

  α.  c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter, xxxv. 10. Forðon mid ðe is waelle lifes.

c. 825.  Vesp. Hymns, xi. in O. E. Texts, 417. Leht lehtes & waelle lehtes.

1533.  Gau, Richt Vay (S.T.S.), 27. The bibil quhilk is the grund and vol of al godlie doctrine and hewinlie visdom.

1599.  Alex. Hume, Poems (S.T.S.), Hymn, vi. 110. He made the Sun a lampe of light, A woll of heate to shine by day.

  β.  c. 1000.  Lambeth Psalter, xxxv. 10. Forðan þe mid þe is welle lifes.

1340.  Ayenb., 80. Uayrhede, wyt, prouesse, myȝte, vridom and noblesse; þise byeþ zix wellen of ydelnesse.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XV. 30. And þat is wytte and wisdome, þe welle of alle craftes.

c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 271. And fro diafragma it mai go to þe brayn, þat is þe welle of alle nerues.

1475.  Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.), 51. Athenes, that was the welle of connyng and of wisdam.

1538.  Starkey, England, 180. Tyranny in al commynaltys ys the ground of al yl, the wel of al myschefe and mysordur.

1539.  Bible (Great), Prov. xvi. 22. Understandyng is a well of lyfe vnto hym that hath it.

1667.  Milton, P. L., XI. 416. [He] purg’d with Euphrasie and Rue The visual Nerve…; And from the Well or Life three drops instill’d.

1859.  FitzGerald, Omar, xxxiv. Then to this earthen Bowl did I adjourn My Lip the secret Well of Life to learn.

  γ.  a. 1000.  Ags. Ps. (Thorpe), xxxv. 9. Forþæm mid þe is lifes wylle.

1422.  Yonge, trans. Secreta Secret., 135. Vndyrstondynge is the begynnynge and will of al vertues.

  c.  Applied to persons regarded as a source or abundant manifestation of some quality or virtue.

a. 1225.  St. Marher., 11. Þu art walle of waisdom.

a. 1310.  in Wright, Lyric P., xxxiii. 94. Ofte y crie merci, of mylse thou art welle.

1377.  Pol. Poems (Rolls), I. 218. Prince Edward That welle was of alle corage.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Wife’s Prol., 107. Crist, that of perfeccion is welle.

c. 1400.  Pilgr. Sowle, V. i. (1859), 74. He is the welle of all manere of goodnes.

c. 1440.  Partonope, 226. That thay may say as ye passe by strete: Loo, yonder gothe the welle of gentylnesse.

c. 1450.  trans. De Imitatione, III. xi. 78. O þou welle of euerlasting loue.

1500–20.  Dunbar, Poems, lxxvii. 7. Oure lustie quein, The vall of velth, guid cheir, and mirrines.

1559.  Mirr. Mag., Edw. IV., vi. A Salomon that was of wit the well.

1596.  Spenser, F. Q., IV. ii. 32. Dan Chaucer, well of English vndefyled, On Fame’s eternall beadroll worthie to be fyled.

  d.  A copious flow (of tears or blood). Also hyperbolically applied to a weeping person.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 156. For þui he [Jeremiah] bed welle of teares to his eien, þet heo ne adruweden nanmore þen welle.

a. 1240.  Ureisun, in O. E. Hom., I. 189. Þe ilke fif wallen [v.r. wellen] þet of þi blisfulle bodi sprungen and strike dun strondes of blode.

1382.  Wyclif, Jer. ix. 1. Who shal ȝyue to myn hed watir, and to myn eȝen a welle of teres?

c. 1530.  Hickscorner, 19. She sawe her sone, all deed, Splayed on a crosse with the fyve welles of pyte.

1606.  Shaks., Tr. & Cr., V. x. 19. There is a word will Priam turne to stone; Make wels, and Niobes of the maides and wiues.

  e.  A whirlpool.

  Applied spec. to certain whirlpools in the Orkneys as a rendering of the native designation keld = ON. kelda spring. Tennyson’s use may either be independent or derived from Scott.

a. 1654.  Blaeu, Le Theatre du Monde, v. 159–60. Map, Orcades … Souna … The Welles. Ibid. Spurness well.

1693.  J. Wallace, Descr. Orkney, 7. The Wells of Swinna, which are two Whirl-pools in the Sea.

1750.  M. Mackenzie, Orcades, 5/1. One of these Whirlpools or Wells, as they are called in Orkney.

1774.  G. Low, Tour Orkney, etc. (1879), 29. The whirlpools called the Wells of Swona, so long famous for the alledged danger in passing over or near them.

1821.  Scott, Pirate, xxxviii. Even as the wells of Tuftiloe can wheel the stoutest vessel round and round, in despite of either sail or steerage.

1850.  Tennyson, In Mem., x. If … the roaring wells Should gulf him fathom deep in brine. Ibid., cviii. To scale the heaven’s highest height, Or dive below the wells of Death.

  3.  A pit dag in the ground to obtain a supply of spring-water; spec. a vertical excavation, usually circular in form and lined with masonry, sunk to such a depth as to penetrate a water-bearing stratum.

  α.  c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., John iv. 6. Uæs … ðer uælle iacobes.

c. 1275.  Wom. Samaria, 12, in O. E. Misc., 84. Iesus at ore walle reste him seolf al one.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 13229. Here nu quat herodias did, In a wall his heued sco hid.

c. 1395.  Plowman’s T., 298. They folowe Christ that shedde his blodde To heven, as bucket in-to the wall.

1882.  ‘Jack Robinson,’ Auld Tales, 11 (E.D.D.). T’ horrator war prayan fer a girt wal et he cud drop intul.

  β, γ.  c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., John iv. 6–7. Þær wæs iacobes wyl; Se hælend sæt æt ðam wylle.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 2947. In euerilc welle, in euerilc trike, men funden blod al witterlike.

c. 1275.  Lay., 19810. Þo wende to þan wille cnihtes swiþe snelle.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 11701. Mak vs a well for mine sake, þat all mai plente o water take.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 1584. Or as a welle that were botemeles Ryght so can fals Iason haue no pes ffor to desyryn [etc.].

c. 1440.  Jacob’s Well, 3. Whanne ȝoure welle is made … ȝe muste haue a wyndas, & a roop, & a bokett, to drawyn vp watyr to drynke, be-cause ȝoure welle is so deep.

1485.  Rec. St. Mary at Hill, 29. For the well a Bokett with a cheyne of yryn.

1530.  Palsgr., 287/2. Well made of stone, puis, putelle.

1553.  Brende, Q. Curtius, VII. 146. The ryuer of Oxus … being a water vnholsom to be dronke … the Macedons fell to digging of welles.

1592.  Shaks., Rom. & Jul., III. i. 99. No: ’tis not so deepe as a well, nor so wide as a Church doore, but ’tis inough.

1610.  Holland, Camden’s Brit., 281. A Well of an exceeding depth.

1625.  N. Carpenter, Geog. Del., II. iv. (1635), 60. Starres from the darke bottome of a deepe Well or Mine will shew themselues at mid-day.

1698.  Fryer, Acc. E. India & P., 155. A little out of the Way is erected an high-wall’d Well.

1700.  Dryden, Fables, Pal. & Arc., II. 82. Now up, now down, as Buckets in a Well.

1745.  trans. Columella’s Husb., I. vi. The ground being dug after the manner of wells, which they call siros, receives the fruits.

1842.  Tennyson, St. Sim. Styl., 63. For many weeks about my loins I wore The rope that haled the buckets from the well.

1858.  Hawthorne, Fr. & It. Jrnls. (1871), I. 337. There is no familiar object connected with daily life so interesting as a well.

1888.  Encycl. Brit., XXIV. 402/2. When the population of a district is scattered it is possible to supply individual wants by means of streams, springs, or shallow wells.

  fig.  c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 193. Now we han medycyns drawen of .ij. wellis & of manie maistris.

a. 1591.  H. Smith, Serm. (1592), 998. The well of Gods secrets is so deepe, that no bucket of man can sound it.

1611.  Bible, Isaiah, xii. 3. With ioy shall yee draw water out of the wels of saluation.

1655.  W. Spurstowe (title), The Wels of Salvation opened.

1781.  Cowper, Convers., 564. Hearts may be found … Whose wisdom, drawn from the deep well of life, Tastes of its healthful origin.

1848.  Dickens, Dombey, xviii. After stating this curious and unexpected fact, Mr. Toots fell into a deep well of silence.

  b.  Her. A bearing representing the stone curb or border of a well.

1780.  R. Glover’s Ord. Arms Augm., 49, in Edmondson, Her., II. O, Gu. three wells ar, water az.

1828–40.  Berry, Encycl. Her., I.

  4.  In varions proverbial sayings or phrases. (See also PITCHER¹ 1 b.)

  (a)  1546.  J. Heywood, Prov. (1867), 70. Well well (quoth she) many wels, many buckets.

1757.  B. Franklin, Poor Richard (1890), 278. Then as Poor Dick says, When the Well’s dry, they know the Worth of Water.

1832.  J. J. Blunt, Reform. Eng., 140. We know not, says the proverb, what the well is worth till it is dry.

1860.  Whyte-Melville, Mkt. Harb., xiii. ‘He’s as deep as a well, is my master,’ answered old Isaac.

  (b)  1691.  Hartcliffe, Virtues, 181. If Truth, as Democritus fansied, lies at the bottom of a deep Well.

1848.  Dickens, Dombey, xxxii. He tried a glass of grog; but melancholy truth was at the bottom of that well, and he couldn’t finish it.

1888.  J. M. Cobban, By Telegraph, iv. The depth of the well at the bottom of which truth is hid was nothing to the unfathomableness of his designs.

  b.  To put (a person) in the well (see quot.). slang.

1812.  Vaux, Vocab. Flash Lang. (1819), s.v. Garden, to put a person in the garden, in the hole, in the bucket, or in the well, are synonymous phrases, signifying to defraud him of his due share of booty by embezzling a part of the property, or the money it is fenced for.

  5.  transf. † a. = FONTANELLE 1 a. Obs.

c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 216. Make him .iij. cauterijs:… oon bihinde þe nolle in þe welle þerof, [etc.]. Ibid., 309. Also in þe welle vnder þe eeris & bihinde þe eeris þou schalt make cauterijs for passiouns of iȝen.

  b.  A well of a (place): like a well, as being damp and cold or deep and dark.

1843.  Dickens, Chr. Carol, ii. He then conveyed him … into the veriest old well of a shivering best-parlour that ever was seen.

1869.  Blackmore, Lorna D., xliv. She had gotten it in a great well of a cupboard.

  6.  Naut. a. A vertical shaft protecting the pump below the lower (or upper) deck in a ship’s hold. To sound the well, to ascertain, by means of a sounding-rod, the depth of water accumulated in the hold.

1611.  Cotgr., Lossec, the sinke, or well, of the pumpe of a ship.

1626.  Capt. J. Smith, Accid. Yng. Seamen, 11. The Pumpe, the pumpes-well, the pumpes brake, [etc.]. Ibid. (1627), Sea Gram., ii. 9. The Dutch men vse a Burre pumpe … to pumpe vp the Billage water that … cannot come to the well.

1750.  Blanckley, Nav. Expositor, 185.

1762–9.  Falconer, Shipwr., II. 464. They sound the well.

1825.  T. Hook, Sayings, Ser. II. Passion & Princ., xv. III. 401. The ship seemed rapidly settling … yet no one dared to sound the well.

1836.  Marryat, Pirate, iv. The well was again sounded. Nine feet water in the hold.

1881.  Daily Tel., 14 Feb., 3/1. So long as the sounding-rod gave a dry well, the men’s courage kept tolerably steadfast.

  b.  A cistern or tank in a fishing-boat, in which the catch of fish is preserved alive. Cf. WELL-BOAT 1.

1614.  Gentleman, Eng. Way Wealth, 19. Fresh fish, which they of purpose do keepe aliue in their boates in Wells.

1720.  De Foe, Capt. Singleton, ii. (1840), 37. This well [was of] the same kind which the small fisher-boats in England have to preserve their fish alive in.

1828.  Davy, Salmonia, 49. He … is landed. A fine well-fed fish, not much less than 4 lbs. Throw him into the well.

1848.  Johns, Week at Lizard, 259. The store-pot is emptied and its contents transferred to a well in the hold of the vessel.

1912.  Daily News, 29 March, 4. The Betsy was running for harbour for all she was worth. Her ‘well’ was full of live cod.

  7.  A shaft or pit bored or dug in the ground. In various specific applications.

  a.  An excavation for the storage of ice.

1681.  Cal. Treas. Bks., 8. Building an ice well for his Majesty’s use in Windsor Great Park.

1850.  Gardeners’ Mag. of Bot., I. 82. Section of ice well…. a, well; b, porch.

1873.  E. Spon, Workshop Rec., Ser. I. 364/1. There must be perfect drainage insured from the bottom of the well, so that the ice will be kept dry.

  † b.  Mil. SHAFT sb.³ 2.

1702–11.  Milit. & Sea Dict. (ed. 4), 1. Well, a Depth the Miner sinks into the Ground, and thence carries on the Branches, or Galeries, to find out, and disappoint the Enemies Mines, or to prepare one.

1736.  J. Campbell, Milit. Hist. Pr. Eugene, etc., I. 217. We now began to perceive that their Miners were in search of our Mines, and that they worked in sinking Wells in order to get into our Galleries.

  c.  (See quot.)

1706.  Phillips (ed. Kersey), s.v. Observatory, The Royal Observatory … furnish’d with all sorts of Instruments … and a dry Well for Discovery of the Stars in the Day-time.

  d.  A shaft sunk to obtain oil, brine, gas, etc.

1799.  Asiatic Researches, VI. 127. An Account of the Petroleum Wells in the Burmha Doininions.

1885.  Encycl. Brit., XVIII. 713. In 1819 a well bored for brine in Wayne county, Kentucky, yielded so much black petroleum that it was abandoned.

1892.  [see GUSHER 2].

1901.  Munsey’s Mag., XXV. 743/2. The first flowing [petroleum] well, or ‘gusher,’ … was struck in 1861.

  e.  A shaft to carry water through a retentive to a porous stratum or to a drain; a sink for sewage.

1856.  J. C. Morton, Cycl. Agric., I. 692. It will be proper … to cut a drain of four feet in depth only, and then to sink small wells down to the watery bed.

1865.  Daily Tel., 27 Oct., 5/2. The system of drainage adopted is that of running the pipes of each house into a dead well…. These wells are made of bricks, without any cement.

  f.  Engin. A hollow cylinder or shaft of masonry sunk and filled in solid to form a foundation.

1885.  L. F. Vernon-Harcourt, Harbours & Docks, I. 405. Where the thickness of the mud exceeded 13 feet, square masonry wells were sunk through it on to the rock…. These wells, being placed at intervals apart, and filled in solid with masonry, form piers for arches which span the intermediate spaces.

1920.  in Webster.

  8.  a. The central open space, from roof to basement, of a winding, spiral or elliptical staircase; the open space in which a lift operates.

a. 1700.  Evelyn, Diary, 7 Nov., 1644. 2 paire of oval stayres all of stone and voide in the well.

1783.  Phil. Trans., LXXIII. 138. Which, passing over pullies…, was fastened to a scale that descended into the well of an adjoining staircase.

1817.  J. Evans, Excurs. Windsor, etc., 161. In the well of the staircase, by a cord of black and yellow, hangs a Gothic lantern.

1848.  Thackeray, Van. Fair, lxi. If you choose to consider it, and sit on the landing, looking up and down the well!

1886.  Stevenson, Kidnapped, iv. The same passing brightness showed me the steps were of unequal length, and that one of my feet rested that moment within two inches of the well.

1901.  Scotsman, 8 March, 6/8. Fall down a hoist well. Ibid. The cage … was at the bottom of the well.

  b.  The space on the floor of a law-court (between the Judge’s bench and the last row of seats occupied by Counsel) where the solicitors sit.

1853.  Dickens, Bleak Ho., i. The various solicitors in the cause … ranged in a line, in a long matted well … between the registrar’s red table and the silk gowns.

1879.  Escott, England, II. 209. In the ‘well,’ a seat a step below that of the Queen’s counsel, sit the solicitors.

1883.  D. C. Murray, Hearts, xxviii. Wigged heads went together in the well of the court, and papers were rustled to and fro on the table.

  c.  A deep narrow space formed by the surrounding walls of a building or buildings, serving for the access of light and air.

1859.  Dickens, T. Two Cities, II. v. (end). Climbing to a high chamber in a well of houses, he threw himself down in his clothes on a neglected bed.

a. 1861.  T. Winthrop, Cecil Dreeme, v. (1896), 64. Through a most unsavoury alley into a court, or rather space, serving as a well to light the rear range of a tenement house.

1915.  Spectator, 29 May, 742/2. The back-rooms look south—into the well.

  9.  a. A space left, in stacking bay, to serve as a ventilating shaft. dial.

1710.  Hilman, Tusser Rediv., Aug. (1744), 102. Some prescribe leaving a Hole or Well in the Middle of the Mow … by keeping therein a Basket or Barrel, and raising it as the Mow increases.

1842.  C. W. Johnson, Farmer’s Encycl., 1261. Well, a … vent hole left in a rick or mow of hay or other similar materials, to prevent its overheating.

  b.  In Ship- and Boat-building applied to various vertical apertures: see quots.

1874.  Thearle, Naval Archit., § 192. When it is not considered necessary to provide a well for raising the propellor.

1894.  Paasch, From Keel to Truck, 108. Well. The deepening between the ends of two waterballast-tanks, or between the ends of a double-bottom and a bulkhead.

1897–8.  Encycl. Sport, I. 179. Well, the opening in a decked canoe to admit the putting in of cargo and to accommodate the crew.

  10.  a. A box-like receptacle in the body of a vehicle, for articles of luggage.

1783.  Morn. Chron., 14 March, 4/2. Advt., A very roomy crane-necked Travelling Coach, with well to the bottom, and luggages behind.

1794.  W. Felton, Carriages (1801), II. 199. The Well of a Carriage is a strong box conveniently placed at the body to carry luggage.

1848.  Thackeray, Van. Fair, lxvi. The baggage was strapped on. Francis came out with his master’s sword, cane, and umbrella tied up together, and laid them in the well.

1911.  Sir W. Butler, Autobiog., xx. 354. He stopped shooting, took three or four brace of grouse from the bag, and, carrying them himself to the car, put the birds in the ‘well’ of the vehicle with a courteous message to my wife.

  b.  A comparatively deep receptacle at the bottom of a piece of furniture, esp. of one fitted with trays, drawers, compartments, etc.

1841.  Savage, Dict. Printing, 812.

1842.  Lytton, Zanoni, VII. ii. He peered into the well [of an escritoire], and opened the drawers.

1879.  Miss Braddon, Vixen, III. 47. There was an old-fashioned work-table, with a faded red silk well, beside the open window.

1888.  Jacobi, Printers’ Vocab., Well, a receptacle under the cases in the upper part of a composing frame, for holding copy, etc.

1905.  H. G. Wells, Kipps, III. iii. § 4. Kipps … draws out the marvellous till; here gold is to be, here silver, here copper—notes locked up in a cash-box in the well below.

  11.  A hole or cavity containing or to contain a liquid. In various applications.

  a.  The water-tank at the base of a shot-tower, into which the drops of melted lead fall.

1851–4.  Tomlinson’s Cycl. Useful Arts (1867), II. 514/1. For the carrying out of this invention shot-towers and shot-wells have been constructed.

1884.  C. G. W. Lock, Workshop Receipts, Ser. III. 362/1. They are sufficiently hardened by cooling to bear the shock of striking the surface of the water in the well below.

  b.  A cavity at the bottom of a furnace, into which the molten metal falls.

1864.  Webster.

1881.  Raymond, Mining Gloss., s.v., Well. The crucible of a furnace.

  c.  A sunk receptacle for a liquid, as ink, etc.; also, an indentation or cavity in a dish, tray, etc.

1873.  E. Spon, Workshop Rec., Ser. I. 166/2. The bath should be … larger than the well, which must be a square hole, a little larger than the plate, and about an inch deep.

1881.  Pharmaceut. Jrnl., 165. A small glass ‘naphtha well’ set in the case, similar to an ink well.

  12.  attrib. and Comb., as well-covering, -drill, -grating, -hook, -mouth, -plate, -pump, -roof, -rope, -shaft, -side, -stage, -tubbing (TUBBING vbl. sb. 2), -yard; well-maker; well-like adj.

1845.  G. Petrie, Eccl. Archit. Ireland, 447. *Well Coverings.

1875.  Knight, Dict. Mech., *Well-drill, a tool for boring wells.

1886.  W. J. Tucker, E. Europe, 410. It is the duty … of the eldest boy in the school … to see that the *well gratings are closed.

1585.  Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 302/1. Lupus,… a *well hooke.

1910.  Rider Haggard, Q. Sheba’s Ring, xvi. 241. He … pointed to a jagged, *well-like hole blown out, as I believe, by the recoil of the blast.

1666.  Despauterii Grammat. Instit., vi. (Jam.). Aquilex,… a *wel maker.

1895.  Daily News, 21 Dec., 5/4. When the second slip took place, the well-maker was suffocated.

1537–8.  Rec. St. Mary at Hill, 377. Paid for j lode of bryk for his *well mowthe.

1869.  Tozer, Highl. Turkey, II. 130. The well-mouth, from being dry, becomes full of water.

1888.  Lockwood’s Dict. Mech. Engin., *Well Plate. A cast-iron plate put over the mouth of a well to carry the pumps, &c.

1889.  Daily News, 5 Aug., 2/7. A substantially constructed set of *well pumps, even if fitted down a well 100 or 200 feet from the ground level, may be utilised as a fire engine in large establishments.

1886.  Mrs. Flor. Caddy, Footsteps Jeanne D’Arc, v. 88. Chemillé has a romanesque church and the usual domical stone *well-roofs.

1575.  Aldeburgh Rec., in N. & Q., 12th Ser. VII. 227/1. For a bucket ye hoopes, and a *well Roape … xiiii^d.

1424.  Mem. Ripon (Surtees), III. 151. It. Roberto Raper pro ij wellerapis.

1752.  Rec. Elgin (New Spald. Club, 1903), I. 465. Rigwoodies, tethers, wallropes.

1908.  Westm. Gaz., 21 July, 2/1. He went to a well and clambered down the well-rope.

1857.  Dickens, Dorrit, I. iv. In one corner of the hall … there was a little waiting-room, like a *well-shaft.

1656.  Earl Monm., trans. Boccalini’s Advts. fr. Parnass., I. xcvii. (1674), 131. The Rope which hung upon the Bucket by the *well-side.

1818.  Scott, Br. Lamm., xx. For all she can sit idle by a well-side the whole day, when she has a handsome young gentleman to prate with.

1888.  Lockwood’s Dict. Mech. Engin., *Weil Stage. A framing of timber erected over the mouth of a well to carry the pumps and pipe connections.

1898.  F. Davis, Silchester, 40–1. Roman wine casks that have served the purpose of *well tubbing that are known to have been exhumed.

1480.  Coventry Leet-bk., 446. Their plum house by þe *well-yarde yate.

  13.  Special comb.: well-basket, a long deep basket formerly used by street-hawkers; well-beam, the wooden beam or roller over which the rope of a well-bucket runs; well-borer, (a) one who bores wells; (b) a machine or apparatus for boring a well; well-boring vbl. sb., the process of sinking a well by drilling through earth or rock; also concr., the shaft of a well; well-brick (see quot. 1889); well-bullock, one used (in India) to turn the windlass at a well; well-cabin (see quot.); † well-carse (see WELL-CRESS); well-chapel, one enclosing a holy well; well-cistern, one fed by a spring; well crane (see quot. 1888); † well crank, a windlass for raising and lowering a bucket at a well; well-curb, (a) the stone border round the mouth of a well; (b) see quot. 1892; well-digger, one who digs or bores wells as a profession; well-dish, a meat-dish with a depression at one end as a receptacle for gravy; well-drag (see quot.); well-drain Agric., a drain for wet land, made after the manner of a well, with a boring through which the water rises to be carried off by the drain; well-draining, a system of land drainage (see quot. and prec.); hence well-drain v. (Webster, 1847–54); well-dresser, one who takes part in well-dressing; well-dressing = tap-dressing (TAP sb.¹ 6); well-eye Sc. and north., a spot in a bog where a spring rises to the surface: a small pool of spring-water; fig. a source; † well fern, the maiden-hair Adiantum Capillus-Veneris; well-flowering = tap-dressing (TAP sb.¹ 6); well-girse, -grass Sc. = WELL-CRESS; well-god, a tutelary deity of a well; well-horse, a horse that turns the windlass of a well; well-house, a small building or room enclosing a well and its apparatus; well-karses, -kerses Sc. and north. (see WELL-CRESS); well-kerb = well-curb; well-packing (see PACKING vbl. sb.¹ 2 note); † well-pipe, a conduit-pipe; in quot. fig.; well plum, a local name of the pochard, Fuligula ferina; well-pole, (a) a well-sweep; (b) see quot. 1893; † well-reeve (see quot. and REEVE sb.¹ 2); well-rig (see quot.); well-room, (a) the place on the floor of a boat or ship where the water collects, and lies until it is pumped out; (b) = well-house; (c) see quot. 1858; well-shanker Sc. = well-sinker; well shrimp, a fresh-water crustacean found in wells; well-sinker = well-borer, -digger; well-sinking vbl. sb. = well-boring; well-smack = WELL BOAT¹; well-spherometer, ‘a form of spherometer for accurately measuring the radius of curvature of a lens’ (Cent. Dict., 1891); well-staircase, -stairs, -stairway, a winding or geometrical staircase with a well or open center; wellstead [STEAD sb. 7], a site for a well; well-sweep (see SWEEP sb. 23); well-tomb, a prehistoric tomb having a well or shaft for an entrance; well-trap, (a) a depression in a drain, in which water lies and prevents the escape of foul air; (b) see quot. 1893; well-tube, the casing-pipe of a driven well; well-way, the shaft of a well; well-wheel, the wheel that turns the axle of a windlass at a well; well-work, the making of a well; well-worship, the worship of a well or its guardian spirit; also well-worshipping vbl. sb. and ppl. a. Also WELL-BOAT, -BUCRET, -CRESS, etc.

1851.  Mayhew, Lond. Labour (1861), II. 485/1. I give two shillings for a ‘shallow’; that’s a flat basket with two handles; they put ’em a top of *‘well-baskets,’ them as can carry a good load.

1895.  Kipling, Soldiers Three, etc. (1917), 273. He will hang him by the heels from the *well-beam.

1786.  Phil. Trans., LXXVII, 50. George Naylor, of Louth, in the County of Lincoln, *Well-borer.

1852.  Mechanics’ Mag., 6 Nov., 370. Thomson’s Artesian Well-borer.

1884.  Lisbon (Dakota) Star, 10 Oct. Experienced well-borers … will endeavor to find petroleum.

1835.  Ure, Philos. Manuf., 57. Mine and artesian *well-boring.

1890.  Hardwicke’s Sci.-Gossip, XXVI. 74/1. Many years ago, in a well-boring,… the flanks of the buried Primary rocks were reached at a depth of 1100 feet.

1784.  Phil. Trans., LXXV. 3. To build a wall of clay against the morassy sides of the well, with a wall of *well-bricks internally, up to the top of it.

1889.  N. W. Linc. Gloss., Well-bricks, curved bricks used for lining wells.

1879.  Mrs. A. E. James, Ind. Househ. Managem., 72. One of the *well-bullocks had a violent attack of the malady.

1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Well-cabins, those in brigs and small vessels, which have no afterwindows or thorough draught.

1858.  J. T. Blight, Anc. Crosses E. Cornw., 94. *Well-chapel, Menacuddle, St. Austell…. The length of this building is 11 feet…. The spring rises in the east end.

1898.  Dublin Rev., July, 150. There was at Wellington a *well-cistern of clear spring water.

1905.  W. Holman Hunt, Pre-Raphaelitism, II. xi. 289. To judge from the company round the well-cisterns … it [Cana of Galilee] was at the time a happy neighbourhood.

1849.  J. Glynn Constr. Cranes, 35. The *well crane having been found inconvenient for raising great weights, because of the insufficient resistance of the ground at the well top.

1888.  Lockwood’s Dict. Mech. Engin., Well Crane, a fixed post crane, one-half of whose post is above ground and the other sunk in a pit, or well, dug to receive it.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 520/2. *Welle crank, tollinum.

1877.  Talmage, Fifty Serm., 23. Will you sit down in front of the *well-curb, when a few more turns of the windlass might bring up the … buckets?

1886.  Kipling, Departm. Ditties, etc. (1899), 56. We have trodden the mart and the well-curb.

1892.  Dict. Arch. (Arch. Publ. Soc.), Well-curb. The ring of elm or metal upon which the lining of a well is built.

1693.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1703), 254. A Borer (such as *Well-Diggers use).

1883.  Phil Robinson, in Harper’s Mag., Oct., 708/2. By trade he is a well-digger.

1880.  Blackmore, Mary Anerley, xlvii. When a coal comes to table in a *well-dish.

1857.  Wright, Obs. & Provinc. Dict., *Well-drag, a three-pronged drag to bring the bucket up when it falls in. Leic.

1881.  Leicestersh. Gloss.

1819.  Rees, Cycl., *Well-drain, in Agriculture, that sort of vent or discharge for the wetness of land, which is constructed in somewhat the well or pit manner. Ibid., *Well-draining, that means of clearing lands from wetness, which … is accomplished by making large deep pits or wells.

1898.  R. M. Gilchrist, Willowbrake, i. 4. Within five minutes the curtain would be drawn aside and the *well-dressers set free to join the turbulent outside revellers.

1860.  *Well-dressing [see tap-dressing: TAP sb.¹ 6].

1882.  C. F. Keary, Outl. Prim. Belief, ii. 87. Fetichism survives in the honours paid to wells and fountains,… in England known under the name of ‘well-dressing.’

1536.  Bellenden, Cron. Scot. (1821), I. 170. Thay knew nocht the ground, and fell sometimes in swards of mossis, and sum time in *well-eys.

1820.  Marmaiden of Clyde, ii. in Edin. Mag., VI. 422. An’ the marmaid’s goun was green as grass In the cauld wall-ee that grows.

1825.  Galt, Last of Lairds, xxxv. The cause o’ our national decay, and agricultural distress,… come a’ thegither frae anither well-ee.

1565.  Cooper, Thesaurus, Adiantum … It may be called Venus heare … other name it to be *well ferne.

1824.  E. Rhodes, Peak Scenery, 315. An ancient custom still prevails in the village of Tissington…. It is denominated *WELL-FLOWERING.

1874.  Murray’s Handbk. Derbysh., etc. (ed. 2), 188. An ancient … custom of dressing the 5 wells or springs of this village … is still kept up, and is known as ‘Tap Dressing’ or ‘Well Flowering.’

1903.  Seccombe & Allen, Age of Shaks., I. 44. His [Browne’s] Devonshire has a large population of river-gods, *well-gods and nymphs.

1673.  D. Wedderburn, Voc., 18 (Jam.). Nasturtium aquaticum, *well-grass.

1825.  Jamieson, Well-grass, Well-girse, Well-kerses, Water-cresses.

1894.  Meredith, Lett. (1912), II. 461. I am under an engagement … to deliver a novel in the Spring, and have to go the round of a *well-horse daily.

1354–5.  Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees), 555. In una sera reparanda pro le *Welhousdore. Ibid. (1466–7), 641. Pro punctuacione super stabulum hospitum et le Wellehouse infra abbathiam.

1597.  in Archaeologia, LXIV. 369. 1500 ston lat nail for ye well house.

1895.  Crockett, Men of Moss-Hags, xxvii. I made a rush swiftly round the corner, and entered the well-house.

1889.  Kipling, Soldiers Three (ed. 3), 67. Losson … lowered the cage [of the parrot] into the cool darkness of a well, and sat on the *well-kerb.

1875.  Knight, Dict. Mech., *Well-packing.

1540.  Coverdale, Fruitf. Lessons, T4b. Here are opened the conduites and *well pipes of life.

1862.  Johns, Brit. Birds, 625. *Wellplum, the Red-headed Pochard.

1885.  Swainson, Prov. Names Birds, 160. Well plum.

1826.  Longf., in S. Longfellow, Life (1886), I. 86. There is so little … to remind one that he is out of town: no corn-fields … no slab-fences: no *well-poles.

1893.  S. E. Worc. Gloss., Well-pole, a pole having at the end a hook, with which the bucket is lowered into the well for the purpose of bringing up water.

1613.  Coventry Leet Bk., II. 21 April, 11 Jas. I. leaf 63 (MS.). Such said aldermen … and such ten persons … shall choose and elect two persons dwelling in everie particular ward where any comon well is … to be *well-reeves for one whole year.

1875.  Knight, Dict. Mech., 2759/1. *Well-rig is the term applied to the whole plant for well-boring, consisting of the derrick, its engine [etc.].

1769.  Falconer, Dict. Marine (1780), s.v. Limbers. The water … is conveyed to the *well-room, where the pumps are fixed.

1852.  Hist. Co. Oxford, 278. A very curious well room of the time of Henry II., and in good preservation has been discovered in the centre of the keep tower on the mount.

1858.  Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Well-room, an apartment or building containing a mineral spring or spa, where the waters are drunk by invalids.

1882.  *Well-shanker [see SHANKER 4].

1853.  Gard. Chron., 23 April, 260/2. A *Well Shrimp, a small white crustaceous animal, about half an inch long.

1914.  Brit. Mus. Return, 171. Well-shrimp.

1604.  Shuttleworths’ Acc. (Chetham Soc.), 156. A *well-sinker, vj days sinkinge the well … iij^s.

1884.  B’ham Daily Post, 24 Jan., 3/4. Wanted … three good Well-sinkers.

1858.  Q. Rev., Jan., 6. All sorts of earthwork, in embanking, boring, and *well-sinking.

1915.  Daily News, 20 Sept., 1. The authorities have requisitioned all workmen with a knowledge of well-sinking … and are sending them … to work on drilling artesian wells.

1765.  Museum Rust., IV. 238. The *well-smacks employed in our cod-fisheries.

1840.  Dickens, Old C. Shop, xlviii. A little out-of-the-way door at the root of the *well staircase flew briskly open.

1868.  Daily News, 4 Aug. If space is an object, two or three well-staircases … might be employed.

1892.  Dict. Arch. (Arch. Publ. Soc.), *Well-stairs.

1883.  Wirt Sikes, in Harper’s Mag., Feb., 347/1. The central column around which these *well-stairways usually wind had here quite fallen away, leaving a sinister-looking abyss.

1546.  Yorks. Chantry Surv. (Surtees), I. 152. For a *wellsteede … for a wellstede and a fysshyng.

1876.  Whitby Gloss., Wellsteead, the site of a well.

1828–32.  Webster, *Well-sweep.

c. 1850–60.  Alice & Phœbe Cary, in M. C. Ames, Mem. (1873), 252. A grape vine, shaggy and rough and red, Swings from the well-sweeps high, sharp head.

1886.  E. S. Morse, Jap. Homes, ii. 73. In this sketch a regular New England well-sweep is seen.

1889.  Nation, 11 April, 303/1. The graves belong to the type of *‘well-tombs.’

1850.  Ogilvie, *Well-trap, the same as stench-trap.

1893.  J. Watson, Confess. Poacher, 133. The well-trap is a square, deep box, built into the ground opposite to a smoot-hole in the fence through which the rabbits run. As the rabbits run, the floor opens, and they drop into the well.

1875.  Knight, Dict. Mech., *Well-tube.

1753.  Hanway, Trav. (1762), I. II. xvi. 69. The method of keeping them clear of water, is by a large scoop which is suspended … over the *well-way.

1900.  Engineering Mag., XIX. 772/2. A sea-going hydraulic dredge having the ladder for the suction-pipe and cutter in a well-way in the centre.

1535.  MS. Rawl. D. 777, fol. 84 b. ix new storoppes to staye the Rynge of the *well wheell to the spokes.

1542.  Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 24, marg. The scoldyng of brathels is no more to bee passed on, then the squekyng of welle wheles.

1895.  Gilbert Parker, in Atlantic Monthly, March, 308/1. You take insult like a donkey on a well-wheel.

1858.  Skyring, Builders’ Prices, 76. The digging will only be applicable to *Well-work, as that for Drains must of course depend upon their depth.

1810.  C. O’Conor, Columbanus’s Third Let., 84. Origin of Irish *Well-worship.

1882.  Proc. Berw. Nat. Club, IX. 510. Well-worship continues to this day, and votive gifts … are still thrown into the clear spring waters.

1810.  C. O’Conor, Columbanus’s Third Let., 79. *Well-worshipping was a Druidic superstition.

1892.  Catholic News, 23 July, 5/5. A race of *well-worshipping semi-pagans.