Word.ws English Dictionary

tree well

tree well noun: a hole or depression in the snow around the base of a tree caused by the tree's canopy preventing the accumulation of snow.

tree well: a hole or depression in the snow around the base of a tree caused by the tree's canopy preventing...
Image: Rosendahl, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

tree well (plural tree wells)

  1. A hole or depression in the snow around the base of a tree caused by the tree's canopy preventing the accumulation of snow.
    • First, tree wells are formed when the canopy of a tree prevents snow from accumulating at the base. Tree wells are noted by a deep ring of much shallower snow around the trunk, with walls of snow just beyond the protection of the canopy.2012, Eli Burakian, Basic Illustrated Snowshoeing, →ISBN, page 70
    • Steer clear of the tree wells. They can be really deep and dangerous.2013, Elisabeth Barrett, Christmas in Tahoe, →ISBN
    Synonyms:
    snow well
  2. A structure designed to protect the base and roots of a tree, typically used in an urban setting.
    • A tree well is a great solution to a problem that often arises during excavation of a building, driveway, or road site. When excavated soil is carelessly mounded around the base of a tree, the tree gradually suffocates. Removing this soil from around the trunk and dry-stacking a tree well to retain...1998, David Reed, The Art and Craft of Stonescaping: Setting and Stacking Stone, →ISBN, page 71
    • Flat surface tree wells create a cleaner architectural effect where trees appear to grow directly out of the pavement.2007, Charles R. Hatch, Trees of the California Landscape, →ISBN

Examples of tree well in a sentence

  • Mary was hanging upside down by the tips of her skies from a tree well.2014, Inspiring Generations: 150 Years, 150 Stories in Yosemite, →ISBN, page 188:
  • Townsend hare inhabit this area, particularly above the cabin, and a skier is likely to have one explode from a tree well and disappear into the whiteness as he skis by.2014, Patrick Armstrong, The Log of a Snow Survey, →ISBN:
  • A tree well is a great solution to a problem that often arises during excavation of a building, driveway, or road site.1998, David Reed, The Art and Craft of Stonescaping: Setting and Stacking Stone, →ISBN, page 71:
  • Excavate the soil to a depth of at least 1 metre (3 feet) and make sure that the soil in the tree well or within at least 2 metres (6 feet) of the tree is free of rocks and debris.2012, Lisa Mummery Gartland, Heat Islands: Understanding and Mitigating Heat in Urban Areas, →ISBN:

Synonyms of tree well

Forms of tree well

pluraltree wells

Questions about tree well

What does tree well mean?
Tree well means a hole or depression in the snow around the base of a tree caused by the tree's canopy preventing the accumulation of snow.
How do you use tree well in a sentence?
Mary was hanging upside down by the tips of her skies from a tree well.
What part of speech is tree well?
Tree well is a noun.
What is the plural of tree well?
The plural of tree well is tree wells.

Words near tree well in the dictionary

  1. tree trunks
  2. tree tunnel
  3. tree tunnels
  4. tree wallabies
  5. tree wallaby
  6. tree well
  7. tree wells
  8. tree wisteria
  9. tree worm
  10. tree worms
  11. tree-and-branch

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tree well (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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