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well-dressing

[ wel-dres-ing ]

noun

  1. (in parts of rural Britain) a traditional ceremony of decorating wells with flowers in thanks for the blessing of an abundant supply of pure water.


well dressing

noun

  1. the decoration of wells with flowers, etc: a traditional annual ceremony of great antiquity in some parts of Britain, originally associated with the cult of water deities
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Other Words From

  • welldresser noun
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Example Sentences

This was their well-dressing when they went together to drink from some spring and to dance on the grass.

At the well-dressing the young men and maidens of Domremy went to the old beech-tree together.

Jeanne, like all the other damsels of the countryside, took her part in the well-dressing.

The village of Tissington is noted for the maintenance of an old custom, that of “well-dressing.”

As such it came in for the annual custom of “well dressing,” a vestige of the old pagan practice of well worship.

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