Definition of "well"

In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.

1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion, page 266

A chap named Eleazir Kendrick and I had chummed in together the summer afore and built a fish-weir and shanty at Setuckit Point, down Orham way. For a spell we done pretty well. Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand.

1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients

Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.

2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845

This day is not going well. Audio (US)(file)

2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, […]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.

1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company

Indeed, some readers may feel that I am beating a horse now already well dead. But in fact, that dead horse is still being driven daily through the pages of introductory textbooks.

1995 Feb, Luke Timothy Johnson, “The New Testament and the examined life: Thoughts on teaching”, in The Christian Century, volume 112, number 4, page 108

Energy markets demonstrated in the 1970s and 1980s that they were well capable of adapting to a perceived scarcity.

2000, Colin Robinson, “Energy Economists and Economic Liberalism”, in Energy Journal, volume 21, number 2, page 1

neither of us was paying attention to any damn imaginary scoring judges -- we were both well content, if a little fatigued.

2006, Spider Robinson, Callahan's legacy

That guy rocks! I think he's called Matthew Lillard or sommat but he is well cool in Scream.

1999, Drummond Pearson, “What Ash are doing right now...”, in alt.music.ash (Usenet)

Hey Dude / FIFA 2003 is well wicked, I've got FIFA 2002 on PS2, David Beckham on Xbox and Football Manager on Xbox too, out of all pf[sic] them FIFA 2003 is easliy[sic] the best.

2002, jibaili, “FIFA 2003 How is it?”, in microsoft.public.xbox (Usenet)

Hey, you should've seen it, it was well good.

2003, Steve Eddy, Empower, Book 2

Whatever now the omen prove, It boded well to you.

1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, (please specify the page number)

Know / In measure what the mind may well contain.

1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,

All the world speaks well of you.

October 10, 1714, Alexander Pope, letter to Joseph Addison

My Son Johnny, named ſo after his Uncle, was at the Grammar School, and a towardly Child. My daughter Betty (who is now well married, and has Children) was then at her Needle-Work.

1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author, by a Lucky Accident, Finds Means to Leave Blefuscu; and, after Some Difficulties, Returns Safe to his Native Country.”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), page 147

Paulina. As she liu'd peerelesse,So her dead likenesse I doe well beleeueExcells what euer yet you look'd vpon,Or hand of Man hath done: therefore I keepe itLouely, apart. But here it is: prepareTo see the Life as liuely mock'd, as euerStill Sleepe mock'd Death: behold, and say 'tis well.

c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene iii]

In this respect it would be well for you to depart from the standard format and to indicate why you did what you did.

2014, Tom Mitchell, Assoc. Prof., “Psych 308/309 GUIDE FOR WRITING PROJECT REPORT”, in Academic website‎, archived from the original on 2014-12-04

When executing bone scan protocols, it is well for one to be aware of how key deviations from optimal technique can degrade image quality.

2004 September 1, Sleiman Y. Naddaf, MD with B. David Collier, MD, Abdelhamid H. Elgazzar, MD, and Magdy M. Khalil, MSc, “Technical Errors in Planar Bone Scanning”, in Kathy S. Thomas, editor, Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology‎, volume 32, number 3, Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging, archived from the original on 2021-04-23, page 149

On leaving the operating table it is well to put the patient in a bed previously warmed and supplied with hot cans.

1897, National Association of Railway Surgeons, Railway surgeon, page 191

This wahoo tastes val.

1984, Peter A. Smith, Fred M. Barritt, Bermewjan Vurds, Island Press

Drunk, like, a gallon of orange mindral. Tasted wel.

2013 September 5, James Burton, “Burton's Banter: Our rich dialogue — as moreish as a cold burr...”, in The Bermuda Sun‎, archived from the original on 2022-12-12

“Well,” I says, “I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough.” ¶ She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.

1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 5, in Mr. Pratt's Patients

“Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd.

Well, I am sorry. — It’s okay, Anna. Audio (US)(file)

2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

The woman said unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], John iv:11

Begin, then, sisters of the sacred well.

1646 (indicated as 1645), John Milton, Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […]

Dan Chaucer, well of English undefyled

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, stanza 32

A well of serious thought and pure, / Too deep for earthly light.

1827, [John Keble], “St. Philip and St. James”, in The Christian Year: Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays and Holydays throughout the Year, volume II, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [B]y W. Baxter, for J. Parker; and C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], page 130

Tetris, the most widely played computer game of all time, is a problem-solving puzzle game. […] The player attempts to lock the falling shape smoothly together with the shapes in the well.

2005, James Paul Gee, Why Video Games are Good for Your Soul

You can reposition the order of documents in the window by clicking and dragging the tabs, or you can drag a tab out of the well and view a document in its own floating window.

2011, Ted LoCascio, Using Adobe InDesign CS5, Enhanced Edition, pages 2-12

You should now have three documents open with their tabs showing in the tab well (this refers to the row of tabs for each open document in the editor), as shown in the following screenshot: […]

2016, Jeff Martin, Visual Studio 2015 Cookbook, page 15

[Blood] welled from out the wound.

1697, Virgil, “The Tenth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […]

[Yon spring] wells softly forth.

1824, William Cullen Bryant, A Forest Hymn