wellhead

English

Alternative forms

• well-head

Etymology

Fromwell+‎head.

Pronunciation

• (UK)IPA^(key):/ˈwɛlhɛd/

Noun

wellhead(pluralwellheads)

1. Theplacewhere aspringbreaksout of theground;thesourceofwaterfor astreamorwell.
   • 1607,George Chapman,Bussy D'Ambois‎^[1],London: William Aspley, act I, scene 1, page 3:

     Leaue the troubled streames,
     And liue as Thriuers doe at theWell head.

   • 1789,William Gilpin,Observations on the River Wye‎^[2],London: R. Blamire, Section 6, p. 74:

     It is a singular circumstance, that within a quarter of a mile of thewell-headof theWye,arises theSevern.

   • 1886May 1 – July 31,Robert Louis Stevenson,“The Flight in the Heather: The Quarrel”, inKidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751:[…],London; Paris:Cassell & Company,published1886,→OCLC,pages239–240:

     We set forth accordingly by this itinerary; and for the best part of three nights travelled on eerie mountains and among thewell-headsof wild rivers; [...]

2. (figuratively)The source of something; afountainhead.
   • 1596,Edmund Spenser,“Book V, Canto IX”, inThe Faerie Queene.[…],part II (books IV–VI), London:[…][Richard Field] forWilliam Ponsonby,→OCLC,stanza 26,page303:

     [H]e likened was to awelhed/ Of euill words, and wicked ſclaunders by him ſhed.

   • 1932,D. H. Lawrence,“Painted Tombs of Tarquinia”, inEtruscan Places,New York: Viking, published1957,page113:

     [...] a bull was not merely a stud animal worth so much, due to go to the butcher in a little while. It was a vast wonder-beast, awell-headof the great, furnace-like passion that makes the worlds roll and the sun surge up [...]

3. The surfacestructureof anoil welletc.

Derived terms

• wellhead cost