Word.ws English Dictionary

giving it some welly

giving it some welly is the present participle and gerund of give it some welly.

Meaning of give it some welly

Verb

give it some welly (third-person singular simple present gives it some welly, present participle giving it some welly, simple past gave it some welly, past participle given it some welly)

  1. (UK, slang) To increase fuel or power to an engine, as to a car by depressing the gas pedal.
    • Believe me, if you give it a little welly down a twisty B-road this car feels pretty entertaining2000, Autocar, page 63
  2. (UK, idiomatic, slang) To apply great physical effort to (something).
    • First they always obey the golden rule ‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might’ (Ecclesiastes 9:19), which translates as ‘always give it some welly’.2008, Mark Salter, Trevor Turner, Community Mental Health Care: A Practical Guide to Outdoor Psychiatry

Questions about giving it some welly

What is giving it some welly the present participle and gerund of?
Giving it some welly is the present participle and gerund of give it some welly.

Words near giving it some welly in the dictionary

  1. giving in
  2. giving it large
  3. giving it mouth
  4. giving it one's best shot
  5. giving it socks
  6. giving it some welly
  7. giving it the gun
  8. giving it to someone
  9. giving it up
  10. giving lie to
  11. giving life to

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: giving it some welly (page history and authors); give it some welly (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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