Well-read Well"-read` adjective Of extensive reading; deeply versed; -- often followed by in .

Well-seen Well"-seen` adjective Having seen much; hence, accomplished; experienced. [ Obsolete] Beau. & Fl.

Well-seen in arms and proved in many a fight.

Spenser.

Well-set Well"-set` adjective

1. Properly or firmly set.

2. Well put together; having symmetry of parts.

Well-sped Well"-sped` adjective Having good success.

Well-spoken Well"-spo`ken adjective [ Well + speak .]

1. Speaking well; speaking with fitness or grace; speaking kindly. "A knight well-spoken ." Shak.

2. Spoken with propriety; as, well-spoken words.

Well-willer Well"-will`er noun One who wishes well, or means kindly. [ R.] "A well-willer of yours." Brydges.

Well-wish Well"-wish` noun A wish of happiness. "A well-wish for his friends." Addison.

Welladay Well"a·day interj. [ Corrupted from wela way .] Alas! Welaway! Shak.

Wellat Wel"lat noun (Zoology) The king parrakeet See under King .

Welldoer Well"do`er noun One who does well; one who does good to another; a benefactor.

Welldoing Well"do`ing noun A doing well; right performance of duties. Also used adjectively.

Welldrain Well"drain` transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Welldrained ; present participle & verbal noun Well-draining .] To drain, as land; by means of wells, or pits, which receive the water, and from which it is discharged by machinery.

Wellfare Well"fare` noun See Welfare . [ Obsolete]

Wellhead Well"head` noun A source, spring, or fountain.

At the wellhead the purest streams arise.

Spenser.

Our public-school and university life is a great wellhead of new and irresponsible words.

Earle.

Wellhole Well"hole` noun

1. (Architecture) (a) The open space in a floor, to accommodate a staircase. (b) The open space left beyond the ends of the steps of a staircase.

2. A cavity which receives a counterbalancing weight in certain mechanical contrivances, and is adapted also for other purposes. W. M. Buchanan.

Wellington boot Wel"ling·ton boot [ After the Duke of Wellington .] A riding boot for men, the front of which came above the knee; also, a similar shorter boot worn under the trousers.

Wellingtonia Wel`ling·to"ni·a noun [ New Latin So named after the Duke of Wellington .] (Botany) A name given to the "big trees" ( Sequoia gigantea ) of California, and still used in England. See Sequoia .

Wellingtons Wel"ling·tons noun plural [ After the Duke of Wellington .] A kind of long boots for men.

Wellspring Well"spring` noun A fountain; a spring; a source of continual supply.

Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it; but the instruction of fools is folly.

Prov. xvi. 22.

Wellwisher Well"wish`er noun One who wishes another well; one who is benevolently or friendlily inclined.

Wels Wels noun [ G.] (Zoology) The sheatfish; -- called also waller .

Welsbach Wels"bach adjective Of or pertaining to Auer von Welsbach or the incandescent gas burner invented by him. -- Welsbach burner , a burner in which the combustion of a mixture of air and gas or vapor is employed to heat to incandescence a mantle composed of thoria and ceria. The mantle is made by soaking a "stocking" in a solution of nitrates of thorium and cerium (approx. 99 : 1), drying, and, for use, igniting to burn the thread and convert the nitrates into oxides, which remain as a fragile ash. The light far exceeds that obtained from the same amount of gas with the ordinary fishtail burner, but has a slight greenish hue.

Welsh Welsh adjective [ Anglo-Saxon wælisc , welisc , from wealh a stranger, foreigner, not of Saxon origin, a Welshman, a Celt, Gael; akin to Old High German walh , whence German wälsch or welsch , Celtic, Welsh, Italian, French, Foreign, strange, Old High German walhisc ; from the name of a Celtic tribe. See Walnut .] Of or pertaining to Wales, or its inhabitants. [ Sometimes written also Welch .]

Welsh flannel , a fine kind of flannel made from the fleece of the flocks of the Welsh mountains, and largely manufactured by hand. -- Welsh glaive , or Welsh hook , a weapon of war used in former times by the Welsh, commonly regarded as a kind of poleax. Fairholt. Craig. -- Welsh mortgage (O. Eng. Law) , a species of mortgage, being a conveyance of an estate, redeemable at any time on payment of the principal, with an understanding that the profits in the mean time shall be received by the mortgagee without account, in satisfaction of interest. Burrill. -- Welsh mutton , a choice and delicate kind of mutton obtained from a breed of small sheep in Wales. -- Welsh onion (Botany) , a kind of onion ( Allium fistulosum ) having hollow inflated stalks and leaves, but scarcely any bulb, a native of Siberia. It is said to have been introduced from Germany, and is supposed to have derived its name from the German term wälsch foreign. -- Welsh parsley , hemp, or halters made from hemp. [ Obsolete & Jocular] J. Fletcher. -- Welsh rabbit . See under Rabbit .

Welsh Welsh noun

1. The language of Wales, or of the Welsh people.

2. plural The natives or inhabitants of Wales.

» The Welsh call themselves Cymry , in the plural, and a Welshman Cymro , and their country Cymru , of which the adjective is Cymreig , and the name of their language Cymraeg . They are a branch of the Celtic family, and a relic of the earliest known population of England, driven into the mountains of Wales by the Anglo- Saxon invaders.

Welsh Welsh transitive verb & i. (a) To cheat by avoiding payment of bets; -- said esp. of an absconding bookmaker at a race track. [ Slang] (b) To avoid dishonorably the fulfillment of a pecuniary obligation. [ Slang]

Welsher Welsh"er noun One who cheats at a horse race; one who bets, without a chance of being able to pay; one who receives money to back certain horses and absconds with it. [ Written also welcher .] [ Slang, Eng.]

Welshman Welsh"man noun ; plural Welshmen

1. A native or inhabitant of Wales; one of the Welsh.

2. (Zoology) (a) A squirrel fish. (b) The large-mouthed black bass. See Black bass . [ Southern U. S.]

Welsome Wel"some adjective Prosperous; well. [ Obsolete] Wyclif. -- Wel"some*ly , adverb Wyclif.

Welt Welt noun [ Middle English welte , probably from W. gwald a hem, a welt, gwaldu to welt or to hem.]

1. That which, being sewed or otherwise fastened to an edge or border, serves to guard, strengthen, or adorn it ; as; (a) A small cord covered with cloth and sewed on a seam or border to strengthen it; an edge of cloth folded on itself, usually over a cord, and sewed down. (b) A hem, border, or fringe. [ Obsolete] (c) In shoemaking, a narrow strip of leather around a shoe, between the upper leather and sole. (d) In steam boilers and sheet-iron work, a strip riveted upon the edges of plates that form a butt joint. (e) In carpentry, a strip of wood fastened over a flush seam or joint, or an angle, to strengthen it. (f) In machine-made stockings, a strip, or flap, of which the heel is formed.

2. (Her.) A narrow border, as of an ordinary, but not extending around the ends.

Welt joint , a joint, as of plates, made with a welt, instead of by overlapping the edges. See Weld , noun , 1 (d) .

Welt Welt transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Welted ; present participle & verbal noun Welting .] To furnish with a welt; to sew or fasten a welt on; as, to welt a boot or a shoe; to welt a sleeve.

Welt Welt transitive verb To wilt. [ R.]

Weltanschauung Welt"an"schau`ung noun ; plural Weltanschauungen . [ G.] Lit., world view; a conception of the course of events in, and of the purpose of, the world as a whole, forming a philosophical view or apprehension of the universe; the general idea embodied in a cosmology.

Welte Welte obsolete imperfect of Weld , to wield. Chaucer.

Welter Wel"ter intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Weltered ; present participle & verbal noun Weltering .] [ Freq. of Middle English walten to roll over, Anglo-Saxon wealtan ; akin to LG. weltern , German walzen to roll, to waltz, sich wälzen to welter, Old High German walzan to roll, Icelandic velta , Danish vælte , Swedish vältra , välta ; confer Goth. waltjan ; probably akin to English wallow , well , intransitive verb ............. See Well , intransitive verb , and confer Waltz .]

1. To roll, as the body of an animal; to tumble about, especially in anything foul or defiling; to wallow.

When we welter in pleasures and idleness, then we eat and drink with drunkards.

Latimer.

These wizards welter in wealth's waves.

Spenser.

He must not float upon his watery bier
Unwept, and welter to the parching wind,
Without the meed of some melodious tear.

Milton.

The priests at the altar . . . weltering in their blood.

Landor.

2. To rise and fall, as waves; to tumble over, as billows. "The weltering waves." Milton.

Waves that, hardly weltering , die away.

Wordsworth.

Through this blindly weltering sea.

Trench.

Welter Wel"ter transitive verb [ Confer Wilt , intransitive verb ] To wither; to wilt. [ R.]

Weltered hearts and blighted . . . memories.

I. Taylor.

Welter Wel"ter adjective (Horse Racing) Of, pertaining to, or designating, the most heavily weighted race in a meeting; as, a welter race; the welter stakes.

Welter Wel"ter noun

1. That in which any person or thing welters, or wallows; filth; mire; slough.

The foul welter of our so-called religious or other controversies.

Carlyle.

2. A rising or falling, as of waves; as, the welter of the billows; the welter of a tempest.

Welterweight Wel"ter·weight` noun 1. (Horse Racing) A weight of 28 pounds (one of 40 pounds is called a heavy welterweight ) sometimes imposed in addition to weight for age, chiefly in steeplechases and hurdle races.

2. A boxer or wrestler whose weight is intermediate between that of a lightweight and that of a middleweight.

Weltschmertz Welt"schmertz` noun [ G., from welt world + schmertz pain. See World ; Smart , intransitive verb ] Sorrow or sadness over the present or future evils or woes of the world in general; sentimental pessimism.

Welwitschia Wel·witsch"i·a noun [ New Latin So named after the discoverer, Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch .] (Botany) An African plant ( Welwitschia mirabilis ) belonging to the order Gnetaceæ . It consists of a short, woody, topshaped stem, and never more than two leaves, which are the cotyledons enormously developed, and at length split into diverging segments.

Wem Wem noun [ Confer Womb .] The abdomen; the uterus; the womb. [ Obsolete]

Wem Wem noun [ Anglo-Saxon wam , wamm .] Spot; blemish; harm; hurt. [ Obsolete] Wyclif.

Withouten wem of you, through foul and fair.

Chaucer.

Wem Wem transitive verb [ Anglo-Saxon wemman .] To stain; to blemish; to harm; to corrupt. [ Obsolete]

Wemless Wem"less adjective Having no wem, or blemish; spotless. [ Obsolete] "Virgin wemless ." Chaucer.

Wen Wen (wĕn) noun [ Anglo-Saxon wenn ; akin to Dutch wen , LG. wenne .] (Medicine) An indolent, encysted tumor of the skin; especially, a sebaceous cyst.

Wên-li Wên"-li` noun [ Chin. wên li .] The higher literary idiom of Chinese, that of the canonical books and of all composition pretending to literary standing. It employs a classical or academic diction, and a more condensed and sententious style than Mandarin, and differs also in the doubling and arrangement of words.

Wench Wench (wĕnch) noun [ Middle English wenche , for older wenchel a child, originally, weak, tottering; confer Anglo-Saxon wencle a maid, a daughter, wencel a pupil, orphan, wincel , winclu , children, offspring, wencel weak, wancol unstable, Old High German wanchol ; perhaps akin to English wink . See Wink .]

1. A young woman; a girl; a maiden. Shak.

Lord and lady, groom and wench .

Chaucer.

That they may send again
My most sweet wench , and gifts to boot.

Chapman.

He was received by the daughter of the house, a pretty, buxom, blue-eyed little wench .

W. Black.

2. A low, vicious young woman; a drab; a strumpet.

She shall be called his wench or his leman.

Chaucer.

It is not a digression to talk of bawds in a discourse upon wenches .

Spectator.

3. A colored woman; a negress. [ U. S.]

Wench Wench (wĕnch) intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Wenched (wĕncht); present participle & verbal noun Wenching .] To frequent the company of wenches, or women of ill fame.

Wencher Wench"er (-ẽr) noun One who wenches; a lewd man.

Wenchless Wench"less adjective Being without a wench. Shak.

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