Meanings
plural wellsinkers
- uncommonUncommon spelling of well sinker.
It was sunk in such an odd place one can only suppose the wellsinker was fooled by his divining rod.
1984, Eric C. Rolls, A Million Wild Acres, →ISBN, page 3154 more examples
It may be some particular set of workmen—brickmakers, wellsinkers, and others, who are the ‘hewers of wood and drawers of water’ in our locality, but who, unlike the Nethinim of old, cannot be said to have anything to do with the congregation of the Lord.
1865, Richard Gee, ‘From Sunday to Sunday’ […], pages 137–8If I contract with a wellsinker to sink a well in my field I am under no duty to provide for the safety of his workmen.
1885 February 6, Lord Young, “Mrs Isabella Robertson and Others […] [v.] Archibald Russell […]”, in Middleton Rettie et al., editors, Cases Decided in the Court of Session, Court of Justiciary and House of Lords, from August 1, 1884, to July 18, 1885, published 1885, page 638The name, however, is of wide import, and is applied to masons, bricklayers, plasterers, wellsinkers, field-labourers, roadmakers, and labourers of every kind.
1888 January 1, James Smith, “Chumarni School, Delhi”, in The Missionary Herald of the Baptist Missionary Society, page 29With several other wellsinkers, he advertised in 1850 that he would sink wells at one dollar a foot, and guaranteed a supply of good water.
1971, William Henry Newnham, Old Adelaide Hotels Sketchbook, →ISBN, page 12
Cite this entry
wellsinker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wellsinker
“wellsinker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wellsinker. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wellsinker,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wellsinker.
Source: wellsinker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.