wishing well
UK/ˈwɪʃɪŋ wɛl/
wishing well noun: a well or other water feature into which individuals traditionally cast coins or small objects while making a wish, based on the cultural belief that the act may bring good fortune or help fulfil the wish. Also the present participle and gerund of wish well.
Noun
wishing well (plural wishing wells)
- A well or other water feature into which individuals traditionally cast coins or small objects while making a wish, based on the cultural belief that the act may bring good fortune or help fulfil the wish.
- In the burial ground is a wishing-well named after St Augustine - the first Archbishop of Canterbury - who, in the 6th century, is said to have blessed it.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 110
- Spitting in a wishing well / Blown to hell, crash / I'm the last splash / I know you, little libertine / I know you're a real cuckoo1993, “Cannonball”, in Last Splash, performed by The Breeders
Also used as
wishing well is also the present participle and gerund of wish well.
wishing well meaning in Persian
wishing well in Persian
- well where wishes were thought to be granted
- چاه آرزو čâh-e ârezu
Forms of wishing well
| plural | wishing wells |
|---|
Questions about wishing well
- What does wishing well mean?
- Wishing well means a well or other water feature into which individuals traditionally cast coins or small objects while making a wish, based on the cultural belief that the act may bring good fortune or help fulfil the wish.
- What is wishing well in Persian?
- Wishing well in Persian is چاه آرزو (čâh-e ârezu). See Wishing well meaning in Persian.
- What part of speech is wishing well?
- Wishing well is a noun.
- How do you pronounce wishing well?
- Wishing well is pronounced /ˈwɪʃɪŋ wɛl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of wishing well?
- The plural of wishing well is wishing wells.
Words near wishing well in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: wishing 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-wishing well.wav.
Cite this entry: “wishing well.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/wishing_well. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.