well up
adj1
Colloquial Well versed; well acquainted (in or on).
- How well up are you on algebra?
well up
verb1
To gradually or steadily flow upwards or outwards so as to begin to fill or overflow something.
- Oil was welling up out of the borehole.
- As soon as I heard news of his death, tears started to well up in my eyes.
1 more example
- A spring wells up in the centre of the village, and watercress beds lie beside the stream running alongside the main street.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 178:
2
Broadly, Figuratively, Of an emotion To accumulate within one, to the point of overwhelming one.
- Emotion welled up inside me.
- A barely audible groan welled up in the Captain's throat as the grinning Freedom Fighter circled around behind the helpless American Soldier. The groan sputtered into a strangled, "No… no… don't.... " as Randall felt the juicy tip of the man's tumescent cock jab against his hair-ringed, virgin asshole.1991, Etienne, “In Enemy Hands”, in Drummer, number 151, page 32:
1 more example
- “I had to leave my job because I just couldn’t … yeah,” Tina says, welling up.2023 December 22, Robyn Vinter, “‘That’s how we’ve got to live’: the black market in England’s shoplifting capital”, in The Guardian, →ISSN: