Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WELL, n. [Sax. well, a spring or fountain; wellan, to well, to boil or bubble, to spring, to rise; D. wel, wellen, id.; G. quelle, a spring; quellen, to spring, to issue forth, to gush, to well, to swell; wallen, to swell In G. welle is a wave. On this word I suppose swell to be formed.]

1. A spring; a fountain; the issuing of water from the earth. Begin then, sisters of the sacred well. – Milton. [In this sense, obsolete.]
2. A pit or cylindrical hole, sunk perpendicularly into the earth to such a depth as to reach a supply of water, sad walled with stone to prevent the earth from caving in.
3. In ships, an apartment in the middle of a ship's hold, to inclose the pumps, from the bottom to the lower deck. – Mar. Dict.
4. In a fishing vessel, an apartment in the middle of the hold, made tight at the sides, but having holes perforated in the bottom to let in fresh water for the preservation of fish, while they are transported to market. – Mar. Dict.
5. In the military art, a hole or excavation in the earth, in mining, from which run branches or galleries. – Cyc.