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well up

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well up¹

verb wells up · welling up · welled up

  1. intransitive To gradually or steadily flow upwards or outwards so as to begin to fill or overflow something. Oil was welling up out of the borehole.
  2. broadly, figuratively, of an emotion To accumulate within one, to the point of overwhelming one. Emotion welled up inside me.

well up²

adjective more well up · most well up

  1. colloquial Well versed; well acquainted (in or on). How well up are you on algebra?

Translations

Every language

verb to flow upwards or outwards

Deutschhervorquellen
Italianosgorgare a fiotti

verb (of an emotion) to accumulate, to the point of overwhelming

Italianosalire in petto
Русскийнахлы́нуть naxlýnutʹ, напо́лнить napólnitʹ

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MLA

"well up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/well%20up. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

well up. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/well%20up

Chicago

"well up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/well%20up.

BibTeX
@misc{well_up_2026,
  title = {well up},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/well%20up},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}