downwell

D2O1W4N1W4E1L1L1

verb

To sink below material of lower density.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

verbdownwell (third-person singular simple present downwells, present participle downwelling, simple past and past participle downwelled)

present singular third person downwells · participle present downwelling · participle past downwelled · past downwelled

  1. To sink below material of lower density.

    This cold water downwells and flows below the saltier but warmer surface water.

    1999, Alison Duxbury, Alyn C. Duxbury, Fundamentals of Oceanography, page 141
    2 more examples

    Some of the northward-flowing waters turn eastward and enter the Throughflow sponge above 1300 m (Figure 5b), where they downwell and return to the interior and spread both to the south and the north (Figure 5c).

    1996, Tong Lee, Jochem Marotzke, Inferring Meridional Mass and Heat Transports of the Indian Ocean by Fitting a General Circulation Model to Climatological Data, page 12

    Ozone in the upper troposphere which downwells to the surface can also result from photochemical production enhanced by high levels of NOx from the natural stratosphere, aircraft emissions of NOx in the upper troposphere [Liu et al., 1980],

    1999, Katherine Anne Duderstadt, Summertime tropospheric ozone photochemistry over the western Atlantic Ocean, page 10
  2. To penetrate water downward.

    In other words, the signal always weakens while it downwells.

    2012 January 17, “Typhoon Tip”, in American Weather
    3 more examples

    This measurement, as Region 4 stated, has been "commonly used to measure marine turbidity; it does not measure downwelling ambient light."

    1983, State Waters Resources Control Board, Environmental Impact Report: Amendment of the Water Quality Control Plan, Ocean Waters of California

    There is a practical depth limit from which the radiance is reflected. Gordon & McCluny (1975) call the depth at which the spectral radiance downwelled from the surface falls to 1/e of its initial energy 'the first optical attenuation length'.

    1988, J. A. Pyle, K. A. Browning, L. Thomas, Towards improved methods of exploiting remotely sensed imagery, page 329

    For those animals living in the mesopelagic zone, where some light downwells from the surface, a visual predator looking up at them could see a silhouette.

    2001, James Willard Nybakken, Marine Biology: An Ecological Approach, page 153
noundownwell (plural downwells)

plural downwells

  1. A vertical shaft or well in which water flows downward.

    You can make this system a downwell by adding a water source above the tanks.

    1989, T. A. Broadley, William Edward Lorne Clayton, British Columbia Manila Clam Culture Workshop, page 167
    4 more examples

    The proposed work includes enlarging the basin and installing downwells for percolation.

    1981, Final Budget of Stanislaus County and Financial Report

    A 14-foot by 14-foot shaft, or downwell, located downstream of the intake structure permits flow to fall approximately 36 feet to a pool Torraed by a 10-foot deep rock trap.

    1986, Robert L. Schuster, Landslide dams: processes, risk and mitigation, page 206

    A six-foot diameter steel transportation pipe connects the downwell at the end of the collection channel to the upwell box at the existing juvenile fish facility. The downwell ensures that the pipe is pressurised and eliminates air entrainment.

    1994, Lower Snake River Biological Drawdown Test, page 20

    The Furnish Canal juvenile fish bypass facility caused few injuries to fall chinook salmon test fish that traveled through the headworks canal, past the screens, and through the downwell, bypass pipe, and outlet when canal flow was 67% of maximum and bypass flow was at maximum.

    1995, Evaluation of Juvenile Fish Bypass and Adult Fish Passage Facilities at Water Diversions on the Umatilla River, page 44
  2. Synonym of downwelling.

    Warm-water eddies are downwells and cold-water eddies facilitate vertical mixing rather than induce upwelling.

    1986, Sea Frontiers, Sea Secrets - Volume 32, page 309

    Synonyms: downwelling

adjectivedownwell (comparative more downwell, superlative most downwell)

comparative more downwell · superlative most downwell

  1. In the lower part of a well.

    By measuring downwell and wellhead temperature, wellbore heat losses through the casing to the formation can be measured.

    1982, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, A Collection of Technical Papers: AIAA/EPRI International Conference on Underground Pumped Hydro and Compressed Air Energy Storage
    2 more examples

    In general, the present-day measured downwell temperatures are lower than those indicated by the alteration mineralogy (i.e. epidote, wairakite, laumontite, and clays)

    1999, Paul Kruger, Henry J. Ramey, Proceedings -Stanford Geothermal Program Volume 24

    This paper describes the applications for large scale fibre optic sensing arrays in geophysical metrology. The main applications considered here are ocean bottom cables and streamers for marine seismic, and downwell seismic systems.

    2000, Anbo Wang, Eric Udd, Industrial Sensing Systems, page 56
  2. literaturetowards the nearest planet or other gravity well.

    I bought some land downwell.

    1 more example

    "[...] spend the two weeks after Translator Dlique's funeral on her estate downwell.

    2014, Ann Leckie, Ancillary Sword, →ISBN, page 175
adverbdownwell (comparative more downwell, superlative most downwell)

comparative more downwell · superlative most downwell

  1. In the lower part of a well.

    A careful analysis of Fig, 19B (and other similar photographs) indicates some of the long exposure particle streaks "downwell" near the topography.

    1990, Journal of Physical Oceanography - Volume 20, page 1438
    2 more examples

    These identification plaques will serve as one aspect of continuing control and are intended to be a long-term indication of a sealed radioactive source downwell.

    1979, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Annual Report, page 216

    One of the principal techniques available for estimating the distribution of cracks in HDR reservoirs is by the analysis of acoustic events recorded downwell on three-component geophones during hydraulic fracturing.

    1984, The Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, page 12
  2. literaturetoward the nearest planet or other gravity well.

    To be safe, we'll have to go downwell.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounSynonym of downwelling.

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

downwell. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downwell

MLA

“downwell.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downwell. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “downwell,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downwell.

Source: downwell on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.