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wellhouse

wellhouse

4.4
A small building over a deep hole that holds water for people
  • noun
  • /ˈwɛlˌhaʊs/
  • UK
translation icon : cobertizo de pozo
  • Sometimes, when they were young and there wasn't anything else to do, Jimmy, Roy, and Chuckle used to climb up on the roof of the wellhouse, cup their hands over their eyes, and look out to the east, over the garden, the cornfield, and the road, and wait for that long, salty wave to roll in across Arkansas.

Examples

  • The children played near the wellhouse, enjoying the shade it provided on hot days.

  • Gentlemen, there's a jug in the wellhouse!

  • Then Bobby got up and dressed while his brother stood beneath the water stain, looking out the windows past the wellhouse toward the barn, fence, and windmill.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • The farmer stored his gardening tools in the wellhouse beside the main house.

  • To access the water, she opened the door to the wellhouse and pulled up a bucket.

How Big

pumping station
  • Specialized
5 3.2
pump house
3 3.5
wellhouse
  • UK
4.4
wellhead
  • Specialized
7 8.3

Surface Forms

wellhouse singular
wellhouses plural

Morphology

wellhouse = well + house (transparent) = well + house

The meaning is directly built from the independent words 'well' + 'house' and denotes a building covering a well, which is obvious to learners.

Etymology

Wellhouse is made of two simple words: well 'a spring or source of water' and house 'a small building'. So, a wellhouse is a small building that stands over a well to protect the water or to hold the pump and tools.