well-dressing

[ wel-dres-ing ]

/ ˈwɛlˌdrɛs ɪŋ /

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noun

(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.

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OTHER WORDS FROM well-dressing

welldresser, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use well-dressing in a sentence

This was their well-dressing when they went together to drink from some spring and to dance on the grass.
The Life of Joan of Arc, Vol. 1 and 2 (of 2)|Anatole France
At the well-dressing the young men and maidens of Domremy went to the old beech-tree together.
The Life of Joan of Arc, Vol. 1 and 2 (of 2)|Anatole France
Jeanne, like all the other damsels of the countryside, took her part in the well-dressing.
The Life of Joan of Arc, Vol. 1 and 2 (of 2)|Anatole France
The village of Tissington is noted for the maintenance of an old custom, that of “well-dressing.”
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 2|Various

As such it came in for the annual custom of “well dressing,” a vestige of the old pagan practice of well worship.
The Annals of Willenhall|Frederick William Hackwood

British Dictionary definitions for well-dressing

well dressing

noun

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