3
N‑UNCOUNT
In the United States,
welfare
is money that is paid by the government to people who are unemployed, poor, or sick. □
wellbeing:
good:
interests:
health:
happiness:
we l|fare sta te N‑SING In Britain and some other countries, the welfare state is a system in which the government provides free social services such as health and education and gives money to people when they are unable to work, for example because they are old, unemployed, or sick.
well
➊ DISCOURSE USES
➋ ADVERB USES
➌ PHRASES
➍ ADJECTIVE USE
➎ NOUN USES
➏ VERB USES
➊ well ◆◆◆ /we l/ Well is used mainly in spoken English. → Please look at category 13 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
1
ADV
You say
well
to indicate that you are about to say something. □
2
ADV
You say
well
to indicate that you intend or want to carry on speaking. □
3
ADV
You say
well
to indicate that you are changing the topic, and are either going back to something that was being discussed earlier or are going on to something new. □
4
ADV
You say
well
to indicate that you have reached the end of a conversation. □
5
ADV
You say
well
to make a suggestion, criticism, or correction seem less definite or rude. □
6
ADV
You say
well
just before or after you pause, especially to give yourself time to think about what you are going to say. □
7
ADV
You say
well
when you are correcting something that you have just said. □
8
ADV
You say
well
to express your doubt about something that someone has said. [FEELINGS
] □
9
EXCLAM
You say
well
to express your surprise or anger at something that someone has just said or done. [FEELINGS
] □
10
CONVENTION
You say
well
to indicate that you are waiting for someone to say something and often to express your irritation with them. [FEELINGS
] □
11
CONVENTION
You use
well
to indicate that you are amused by something you have heard or seen, and often to introduce a comment on it. [FEELINGS
] □
12
CONVENTION
You say
oh well
to indicate that you accept a situation or that someone else should accept it, even though you or they are not very happy about it, because it is not too bad and cannot be changed. [FEELINGS
] □
13very well → see very
➋ well ◆◆◆ /we l/ (better , best )