The Collaborative International Dictionary
Wellhole \Well"hole`\, n.
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(Arch.)
The open space in a floor, to accommodate a staircase.
The open space left beyond the ends of the steps of a staircase.
A cavity which receives a counterbalancing weight in certain mechanical contrivances, and is adapted also for other purposes.
--W. M. Buchanan.
Wiktionary
n. 1 The open space in a floor, to accommodate a staircase. 2 The open space left beyond the ends of the steps of a staircase. 3 A cavity which receives a counterbalancing weight in certain mechanical contrivances, and is adapted also for other purposes.
Usage examples of "wellhole".
There was also signs of some sort of civilized behavior as wellholes which clearly were some kind of tent pole supports, a central fire pit with more support holes that might indicate anything from a rotisserie to grates being placed there, and a veritable waste pile of damaged and broken crockery, much of it of fired clay and some of it inlaid with elaborate designs.