well

Less common meanings

9. 9
   adverb

   Placed after may, might or could to suggest that something is fairly probable or a genuine prospect.

   Analysts warn that prices might well rise again before the end of the year.

   The fossil may well turn out to be the oldest of its kind ever found.

   UsageGoes between the modal and the main verb: it may well rain; you could well be right.

   Note

   The modal supplies the possibility and well raises the odds: prices might rise is an open question, prices might well rise is a fair bet. Keep it apart from the "with good reason" meaning, which also follows modals: you may well ask says the question is justified, not that it is likely to be asked.

10. 10
    mock surpriseinterjection

    An exclamation of surprise, whether mock or sarcastic ('well, well') or indignant and offended ('Well! Of all the nerve').

    Well, well, so you decided to come after all.

    Well, well, well, the tables have turned.

    UsageOften doubled or tripled for mock surprise: well, well, well.

11. 11
    demanding answerinterjection

    Used on its own as a question to demand an answer from someone who has not given one.

    Well? What have you got to say for yourself?

    She folded her arms. Well?

    Similarso

12. 12
    nouncountable

    A natural spring; a place where water rises to the surface of its own accord.

    People still tie ribbons to the trees around the old healing well, where spring water seeps from the ground.

    The village grew up around a well where clear water rises from the rocks.

    Similarspring, fountain

13. 13
    come to surfaceverbintransitive

    Of a liquid, to rise up and flow or seep out, as water from the ground, blood from a wound, or tears in the eyes; often with up.

    Blood welled from the wound.

    Water seemed to well up from the bare hillside.

    UsageOften well up; liquid wells from a wound, and eyes well up with tears.

    Similarflow, pour, seep, ooze, gush

    Note

    Behind this verb is boiling. It merges two Old English verbs, one intransitive and one transitive, both meaning "to boil," and shares its origin with the dialect verb wall, "to boil." The heat has gone, but the picture of liquid pushing up from below remains. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The verb derives from two Old English verbs, one intransitive and one transitive, both meaning 'to boil'. en.wiktionary.org
    • The verb shares its origin with wall. en.wiktionary.org
    • Wall has the meaning 'to boil'. en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    rich sourcenounfigurativelycountable

    A source of supply; a deep store to draw on.

    The archive is a well of stories waiting to be told.

    His patience was a well that never ran dry.

    UsageOften a deep well of something; you draw on it, and it can run dry.

    Similarsource, reservoir, fount, store

    Note

    A figure as old as the poetry that uses it: Spenser calls Chaucer the "well of English undefyled," and Keble writes of "a well of serious thought." The image joins depth and supply, so it pairs naturally with deep, draw on and run dry. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Edmund Spenser calls Chaucer the "well of English undefyled." en.wikisource.org
    • John Keble wrote "a well of serious thought." ccel.org
15. 15
    wiseadjective

    Prudent, advisable, or a good idea, usually in the pattern it is well to.

    Before a long hike, it is well to tell someone where you are going.

    It would be well for us to read the contract again before we sign it.

    UsageSounds instructional; in everyday speech it would be wise to or it's a good idea to is more natural.

    Similaradvisable, prudent, wise, sensible

    Oppositeunwise, inadvisable

16. 16
    house drinknouncountable

    A drink made with a bar's cheaper house liquor, poured from bottles kept within the bartender's reach.

    They're having a special tonight: one-dollar wells.

    A well costs four dollars here, but a top-shelf drink costs twelve.

    UsageContrasted with call and top-shelf drinks; also well drink, well vodka.

17. 17
    small hollownouncountable

    A small hollow or depression that holds a liquid or other things, such as one of the cavities in a laboratory test plate.

    Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.

    The pen rested in a well cut into the desk.

    Similarhollow, depression, cavity, hole

18. 18
    stair openingnouncountable

    In architecture, a vertical opening through the floors of a building, for a staircase or an elevator, also called a wellhole.

    The stair winds around an open well.

    Sound carried up the well from the lobby.

    Similarshaft, stairwell

    Note

    The void is the point: the well is the opening that runs up through the floors, not the staircase or elevator that occupies it. A stair can wind around an open well, and sound carries up it from the lobby below. Wellhole is the longer name for the same space. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The architectural well is the opening through the floors that accommodates stairs or an elevator. en.wiktionary.org
    • A staircase can wind around an open well. en.wikipedia.org
    • Sound can travel upward through the opening; the lobby is an illustrative setting. cdc.gov
    • Wellhole also denotes the opening accommodating a staircase. en.wiktionary.org
19. 19
    courtroom floornouncountable

    In a courtroom, the open space between the judge's bench and the tables where counsel sit, entered only with leave.

    Counsel approached the bench across the well.

    The witness was led through the well to the stand.

20. 20
    interjectionIreland

    Used as a greeting, as a short way of asking how someone is.

    Well, Seán, any news?

    'Well, Tom,' he said, sitting down at the bar.

    UsageCan be followed by a name or lads: Well, Mary; Well, lads.

    Similarhello, hi

    Note

    An Irish greeting clipped from a question about health, "are you well?", which ties it to the health adjective. Elsewhere a lone "Well?" is more likely to be heard as a demand for an answer, so the tone needs to be friendly. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The Irish greeting "well" is shortened from "Are you well?", a question about health. en.m.wiktionary.org
21. 21
    adverb

    With good reason, considering the situation; in a way that can be justified or easily understood.

    He couldn't very well refuse the invitation after all they had done for him.

    The villagers were furious about the plant closing, and well they might be.

    UsageUsed in can't/couldn't very well + verb, you may well ask, and and/as well they might.

    Similarreasonably, rightly

22. 22
    noun

    In video games of the Tetris kind, the playfield, the tall container into which the falling shapes drop and stack.
23. 23
    noun

    A vertical, cylindrical trunk reaching to the lowest part of a ship's hull, through which the bilge pumps work.
24. 24
    noun

    In military mining, an excavation sunk into the earth from which branches or galleries are driven, as toward a fortification.
25. 25
    noun

    In metalworking, the lowest part of a furnace, the reservoir into which the molten metal falls and collects before tapping.
26. 26
    noun

    In a graphical user interface, the area that holds the tabs for open documents, the tab well: drag a tab out of the well.
27. 27
    adjectivearchaic

    Pleasant to eat, with a good flavor.

    This wahoo tastes val.

    1984, Peter A. Smith, Fred M. Barritt
28. 28
    noun

    The sunken open area of a sailboat where the crew sits and steers.
29. 29
    noun

    A watertight-sided tank amid a fishing boat's hold, with holes in its floor so seawater flows in and keeps the catch alive on the way to market.
30. 30
    noun

    An upright shaft built into a ship's stern, letting its auxiliary propeller be raised clear of the sea when not in use.