Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

1 ADV [ADV after v] If you do something well , you do it to a high standard or to a great extent. □  All the Indian batsmen played well. □  He speaks English better than I do. □  It is a formula that worked very well indeed. □  I don't really know her very well.

2 ADV [ADV after v] If you do something well , you do it thoroughly and completely. □  Mix all the ingredients well. □  Wash your hands well with soap.

3 ADV [ADV after v] If you speak or think well of someone, you say or think favourable things about them. □ [+ of ] 'He speaks well of you.'—'I'm glad to hear that.'. □ [+ of ] It might help people think better of him.

4 COMB Well is used in front of past participles to indicate that something is done to a high standard or to a great extent. □  Helen is a very well-known novelist in Australia. □  People live longer nowadays, and they are better educated. □  British nurses were among the best trained in Europe.

5 ADV You use well to ask or talk about the extent or standard of something. □  How well do you remember your mother, Franzi? □  This new career doesn't pay nearly as well as the old one. □  He wasn't dressed any better than me.

6 ADV You use well in front of a prepositional phrase to emphasize it. For example, if you say that one thing happened well before another, you mean that it happened a long time before it. [EMPHASIS ] □ [+ after ] Franklin did not turn up until well after midnight. □ [+ over ] He stands well over six feet tall.

7 ADV [ADV adj] You use well before certain adjectives to emphasize them. [EMPHASIS ] □  She has a close group of friends who are very well aware of what she has suffered. □  The show is well worth a visit.

8 ADV [adv ADV , ADV with v] You use well after adverbs such as 'perfectly', 'jolly', or 'damn' in order to emphasize an opinion or the truth of what you are saying. [EMPHASIS ] □  You know perfectly well I can't be blamed for the failure of that mission. □  I'd got myself into this situation and I jolly well had to get myself out of it.

9 ADV You use well after verbs such as 'may' and 'could' when you are saying what you think is likely to happen. [EMPHASIS ] □  The murderer may well come from the estate. □  Ours could well be the last generation for which moviegoing has a sense of magic.

➌ well ◆◆◆ /we l/

→ Please look at categories 14 to 18 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.

1 PHRASE You use as well when mentioning something which happens in the same way as something else already mentioned, or which should be considered at the same time as that thing. □  If the university invites one candidate to speak, all others will be invited as well. □  I prefer to paint landscapes. I like to paint butterflies and gardens as well.

2 PHRASE You use as well as when you want to mention another item connected with the subject you are discussing. □  It is in his best interests as well as yours. □  As well as running my organics company, I am Ronnie's PA.

3 PHRASE If you say that something that has happened is just as well , you mean that it is fortunate that it happened in the way it did. □  Judging from everything you've said, it was just as well she wasn't there.