dead well, ˈdead-ˈwell
[dead a. 15, 22.]
1. A well dug down into a porous stratum, to carry off surface or refuse water: called also absorbing well, dumb well. Cf. dead-hole (dead a. D. 2).
| 1852–61 Archit. Publ. Soc. Dict. i. 5 In some parts of England absorbing wells are known under the name of dead wells. 1875 Ure Dict. Arts II. 10 Dead wells, wells which are made to carry off refuse waters. |
2. A ‘well’ or excavation into which the weights of a large clock descend.
| 1867 Musgrave Nooks & Corners Old Fr. I. 261 A ‘dead well’ of some twenty feet depth, which used to receive the descending weights of a great clock. |