welly

See also: Welly

English

Etymology 1

Clipping of Wellington boot +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛli/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛli

Noun

welly (countable and uncountable, plural wellies)

1. (countable, informal) Wellington boot.
   • 2009, Verse for Ages‎:

     Dad has great big welly boots. For squishing in the mud; Two great big black welly boots: Thud, thud, thud.

2. (uncountable, informal) Force on a pedal or increase to any fuel or power for an engine or motor.
3. (uncountable, informal) Force or effort.

   Synonyms: back, elbow grease

   Come on! Put some welly into it!

Alternative forms

• wellie

Derived terms

• welly whanging
• give it some welly
• green welly brigade, green-welly
• welly it

Translations

Wellington boots — see Wellington boots

force on a pedal or increase to any fuel or power for an engine or motor

German: Gas (de) Spanish: acelerón (es) m, acelerada (es) f

Etymology 2

From welne, a dialectal variant of well-nigh.

Adverb

welly (not comparable)

1. (obsolete, UK, Ireland, dialect) Almost; nearly.
   • 1853, Notes & Queries, volume 8, page 64:

     A person exceedingly hungry says, "I'm welly clem'd; I'm almost or well-nigh starved." It is the ordinary appeal of a beggar in the streets, when asking for food.

References

• Joseph Wright (1893), The English Dialect Dictionary, page 430

Etymology 3

Adverb

welly (not comparable)

1. (In representations of Chinese pronunciation) very.
   • 1928 October 13, The Argus, Melbourne, page 2, column 7:

     The real thrill comes to the investigator when, convinced that he is no mere casual diner, the waiter grins broadly and says, "You don't worry. I get you something welly nice."