English Explanatory Dictionary

well

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adv
  1. Accurately, competently, satisfactorily.
  2. Completely, fully.
  3. To a significant degree.
  4. Very (as a general-purpose intensifier).
  5. In a desirable manner; so as one could wish; satisfactorily; favourably; advantageously.
adj
  1. In good health.
  2. Highly satisfactory
  3. Good, content.
  4. Prudent; good; well-advised.
  5. Good to eat; tasty, delicious.
intj
  1. Used as a discourse marker.
  2. Used as a hedge.
  3. Expressing reluctance to say something.
  4. An exclamation of sarcastic surprise (often doubled or tripled and in a lowering intonation).
  5. An exclamation of indignance.
  6. Used as a greeting, short for "Are you well?"
  7. Used as a question to demand an answer from someone.
noun
  1. A hole sunk into the ground as a source of water, oil, natural gas or other fluids.
  2. A place where a liquid such as water surfaces naturally; a spring.
  3. A small depression, e.g. suitable for holding liquid or other objects.
  4. A source of supply.
  5. A vertical, cylindrical trunk in a ship, reaching down to the lowest part of the hull, through which the bilge pumps operate.
  6. The cockpit of a sailboat.
  7. 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 to keep fish alive while they are transported to market.
  8. A vertical passage in the stern into which an auxiliary screw propeller may be drawn up out of the water.
  9. A hole or excavation in the earth, in mining, from which run branches or galleries.
  10. An opening through the floors of a building, as for a staircase or an elevator; a wellhole.
  11. The open space between the bench and the counsel tables in a courtroom.
  12. The lower part of a furnace, into which the metal falls.
verb
  1. To issue forth, as water from the earth; to flow; to spring.
  2. To have something seep out of the surface.
name
  1. A small village in Long Sutton parish, Hart district, Hampshire, England (OS grid ref SU7646).
  2. A small village and civil parish in East Lindsey district, Lincolnshire, England (OS grid ref TF4473).
  3. A village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, previously in Hambleton district (OS grid ref SE2681).
  4. A village in Maasdriel municipality, Gelderland province, Netherlands.
  5. A village in Bergen municipality, Limburg province, Netherlands.

Pronunciation

/ˈwɛl/ /ˈwɛʊ̯/ /ˈwel/ /ˈwæl/ /ˈwəl/ [ˈwɫ̩] /ˈwiːl/ En-uk-well.ogg En-us-well.ogg /ˈweɪ/

Word forms

well better best wall weel weil welp weller wellest val vell wells welling welled

Etymology

From Middle English wel, wal, wol, wele, from Old English wel (“well, abundantly, very, very easily, very much, fully, quite, nearly”), from Proto-Germanic *wela, *wala (“well”, literally “as wished, as desired”), from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“wish, desire”). Cognates Cognate with Yola vella, waal, wel, well, wull (“well”), Cimbrian boll, bóol (“well”), Dutch wel (“well”), German wohl, wol, woll (“well”), Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk vel (“well”), Faroese væl (“well”), Swedish väl, waͤl (“well”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌰 (waila, “well”). Related to will.

Synonyms

so see look as if like you know I mean shaft

Derived words

all's well that ends well full well all too well all very well as well as well as bloody well damned well damn well darn well do well do well by doing good do well for oneself fare thee well fully well goddamned well go over as well as a lead balloon hail fellow well met jolly well just as well know fine well know full well leave well alone leave well enough alone let well alone let well enough alone may as well medium well might as well ne'er-do-well over well play one's cards well play well with other pretty well sleep well speak well of to a fare-thee-well well acquainted well actually well-adapted well-adjusted well-advised well-aimed well and truly well-appointed well-attested well-aware well aware well-baked well-balanced well-beaten well begun is half done well-behaved well-behavedly well-behavedness well-beloved well-beseen well-born well-bred well-breeched

Translations

Albanian: epo Arabic: طيّب Arabic: حسنًا Assamese: বাৰু Asturian: bien Bulgarian: е добре Bulgarian: ами Bulgarian: добре Carpathian Rusyn: но Catalan: bé Chickasaw: haatokma̠ Chinese Mandarin: 好 Chinese Mandarin: 那 Chinese Mandarin: 那麽 /那么 Chinese Mandarin: 哪個 /哪个 Chinese Mandarin: 嗯 Czech: no Danish: tja Danish: nå Danish: nåja Danish: øh Danish: eh Danish: øhm Danish: ehm Dutch: nou Dutch: nou ja Esperanto: nu Estonian: no Finnish: no Finnish: tuota Finnish: niinku French: eh bien French: bien French: écoutez French: ben French: bah Saterland Frisian: nu Georgian: აბა Georgian: ბარე Georgian: ბარემ German: na German: na ja German: gut German: naja Greek: λοιπόν Greek: καλά Greek: ωραία Greek: που λες Hebrew: ואלה Hebrew: ובכן Hebrew: טוב Hebrew: אז Hiligaynon: abá Hindi: ख़ैर Hungarian: hát Hungarian: nos Irish: bhuel Italian: beh Italian: mbè Japanese: うーん Japanese: ええと Japanese: あのう Korean: 저기 Korean: 음 Korean: 저어 Macedonian: е па Macedonian: па Macedonian: зна́чи Māori: kāti Māori: ehi Māori: tēnā Māori: tēnā tēnā Pashto: مړه Iranian Persian: خُب Polish: cóż Polish: no Polish: hm Portuguese: bem Portuguese: bom Portuguese: é... Portuguese: pois Portuguese: sabe Russian: так вот Russian: ну Russian: что ж Russian: зна́чит Russian: э́то Russian: э Scots: weel Scottish Gaelic: uill Slovak: no Slovene: no Slovene: torej Spanish: bueno Spanish: pues bien Spanish: pues Spanish: este
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