dry well

noun

1. a drainage pit lined with loose stonework for the leaching of liquid wastes.

2. absorbing well.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dry well¹

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

He added: "I will not go quietly. I will not be cancelled for convenience. I was tried by media and hung out to dry well before the facts were established."

From BBC

Knowing that the monkey would only keep killing, they threw it down a dry well, only for it to reenter their lives 25 years later.

From Salon

Like, “bucket clanking on the bottom of a dry well” low?

From Salon

Let it dry well, and you can store valuables in the last place someone might look.

From Seattle Times

A Bend, Oregon, man who went missing on Christmas Day was found alive and in good condition in a dry well inside a gated storage unit facility, local police said.

From Washington Times