ˈwell-to-ˈdo, adj. phr.
[See well a. 3.]
1. Possessed of a competency, in easy circumstances; thriving, prosperous: a. as predicate (with or without hyphens).
| 1825 Brockett N.C. Words 230 Weel-te-dee, well to do—living comfortably. 1840 Marryat Poor Jack iii, Her husband had returned well, and well to do. a 1845 Barham Ingol. Leg., Jerry Jarvis's Wig, A reputable grazier of Ivychurch, worthy and well-to-do. 1864 Tennyson En. Ard. 310, I am rich and well-to-do. 1874 Symonds Sk. Italy & Greece (1898) I. vi. 119 For Corsicans they [the Napoleon family] were well-to-do. |
b. in fuller form well to do in the world.
Cf. well in the world, well a. 3.
| 1825 Mrs. Cameron Crooked Paths (Houlston Tracts I. xxv.) 6 He is what is called very well to do in the world. 1854 Surtees Handley Cr. xiii. (1901) I. 93 They are very respectable—that's to say..people well-to-do in the world. 1861 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 48 The Corporation of the Steelyard were too well to do in the world to be other than..thoroughly Anglican. 1885 Law Times Rep. LII. 647/2 Both were well to do in the world. |
c. attrib. (with hyphens).
| 1839 Thackeray Stubbs's Cal. Jan., My father was..a well-to-do gentleman of Bungay. 1850 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 202 It is only idle and well-to-do people who kill themselves. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. xiii. 143 The well-to-do squirearchy of England. 1892 Gardiner Student's Hist. Eng. 489 The Colony of Virginia grew into a tobacco-planting, well-to-do community. |
d. absol. (as pl.).
| 1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles xiv. 136 He has strayed into the paradise of the well-to-do. 1891 Mrs. Oliphant Jerusalem iv. ii. 441 The well-to-do of every village gathered conspicuous on the road. |
e. transf. Indicative of easy circumstances, prosperous-looking.
| 1863 Mrs. Gaskell Sylvia's L. vi, Still, in spite of disorder like this, there was a well-to-do aspect about the place. 1883 D. C. Murray Hearts i, A comfortably furnished apartment, where shaded lamps and handsome curtains gave things a well-to-do and homelike look. |
2. Of an animal or plant: Thriving.
| 1875 F. I. Scudamore Day Dreams 16 The cattle in the forestalls were sleek and well-to-do. 1881 Leicestersh. Gloss., Well-to do,..thriving, applied to trees, cattle, &c., as well as men. 1908 R. Bagot A. Cuthbert iii. 25 Fat and well-to-do rabbits. |
3. Pleased or satisfied with oneself. rare—1.
| 1854 [see well a. 2 c]. |
Hence well-to-do-ism, well-to-do-ness, prosperity.
| 1848 Clough Poems (1862) Mem. p. xv, Well-to-do-ism shakes her Egyptian scourge, to the tune of ‘ye are idle, ye are idle’. 1849 Lytton Caxtons ii. iii, The house had an air of solidity, and well-to-do-ness about it. 1882 Mrs. Oliphant Lit. Hist. Eng. III. 134 Even the poverty of wealth is better than the well-to-do-ness of the humble. 1887 E. Money Dutch Maiden xxii, ‘It [an inheritance] is nothing wonderful,’ he added, ‘but well-to-doism for a fellow like myself.’ 1925 J. Bone London Perambulator 127 All the nice well-flavoured old things [at a pastry-cook's in High Street] that suggested Kensington ‘well-to-do-ness’. |