wellspring

noun

well·​spring ˈwel-ˌspriŋ How to pronounce wellspring (audio)
: a source of continual supply
a wellspring of information

Examples of wellspring in a Sentence

The tour guide was a wellspring of information. the nation's colleges and universities were a wellspring for political activism and unrest
Recent Examples on the Web Denverites’ decision five years ago to bump up the city’s sales tax rate, creating a wellspring of funding for parks, is finally ready to bear fruit — in the form of grass, gardens or other greenery — in neighborhoods across the city. Joe Rubino, The Denver Post, 22 Jan. 2024 Chickasaws and Choctaws, who shared the southern third of the territory, thrived in this region, basking in the same wellspring of healing, sulphur-rich waters as the Woodland Indians who preceded them. Matt Kirouac, Travel + Leisure, 31 Dec. 2023 Hill shouted out her hometown often and cheerily, name-checking Newark totems such as Essex County and her alma mater, Columbia High School, with a wellspring of homespun nostalgia that prompted her to welcome several area high schoolers to play as part of her band. A.d. Amorosi, Variety, 18 Oct. 2023 Given this wellspring of vomitus summer fun, here are our picks for the top five public health advisories bobbing in the waters this summer. Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 23 June 2023 Even the Holocaust, about which no moral ambiguity should be possible, became for Mandelbaum a wellspring of self-doubt and paranoia. Jason Farago, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2023 With this investment has come a wellspring of exciting new design and culinary offerings, as well as a new wave of stylish and sustainably minded boutique stays. Elise Taylor, Vogue, 20 Dec. 2023 Budd told me that a lot of researchers were asking for his advice about how to deal with the outage but that no one really wanted to grapple with the full implications: that the nation’s primary wellspring of knowledge was out of commission. Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 19 Dec. 2023 Decades of American rhetoric that celebrated commerce as a wellspring of democratization in China have given way to resignation that the country’s current leadership — under President Xi Jinping — is intent on crushing dissent at home and projecting military might abroad. Peter S. Goodman, New York Times, 14 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wellspring.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of wellspring was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near wellspring

Cite this Entry

“Wellspring.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wellspring. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

wellspring

noun
well·​spring ˈwel-ˌspriŋ How to pronounce wellspring (audio)
1
: a source of continual supply
2

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