may well be

may well be
   This expression frequently signals that what follows is little more than a guess, as in this curiously cautious statement from a story in The Times of London: "On July 3, Christies will be offering a selection of Leonardos, Mantegnas, Raphaels, Parmigianinos, Rembrandts and van Dykes in what may well be the most valuable single property sale of recent times."The London auction house, incidentally, is Christies, with an apostrophe. (See also VAN DYCK, VAN DYKE.)

Dictionary of troublesome word. . 2013.

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  • You may well ask! — humorous, humorous, formal something that you say when someone asks you about something which you think is strange, funny, or annoying. Why is Timothy sitting in the kitchen with a saucepan balanced on top of his head? You may well ask! What… …   New idioms dictionary

  • you may well ask — you may/​might well ask spoken phrase used for showing that you think someone’s question is difficult to answer ‘How are we supposed to do this?’ ‘You may well ask!’ Thesaurus: ways of saying that you do not know or understandsynonym Main entry:… …   Useful english dictionary

  • may (very) well — may (very) well/easily/ phrase used for saying that something is fairly likely to be true or is fairly likely to happen What you say may very well be true. A small technical error may easily result in a serious accident. it may well be that: It… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Well — Well, adv. [Compar. and superl. wanting, the deficiency being supplied by better and best, from another root.] [OE. wel, AS. wel; akin to OS., OFries., & D. wel, G. wohl, OHG. wola, wela, Icel. & Dan. vel, Sw. v[ a]l, Goth. wa[ i]la; originally… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Well enough — Well Well, adv. [Compar. and superl. wanting, the deficiency being supplied by better and best, from another root.] [OE. wel, AS. wel; akin to OS., OFries., & D. wel, G. wohl, OHG. wola, wela, Icel. & Dan. vel, Sw. v[ a]l, Goth. wa[ i]la;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Well off — Well Well, adv. [Compar. and superl. wanting, the deficiency being supplied by better and best, from another root.] [OE. wel, AS. wel; akin to OS., OFries., & D. wel, G. wohl, OHG. wola, wela, Icel. & Dan. vel, Sw. v[ a]l, Goth. wa[ i]la;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Well to do — Well Well, adv. [Compar. and superl. wanting, the deficiency being supplied by better and best, from another root.] [OE. wel, AS. wel; akin to OS., OFries., & D. wel, G. wohl, OHG. wola, wela, Icel. & Dan. vel, Sw. v[ a]l, Goth. wa[ i]la;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Well to live — Well Well, adv. [Compar. and superl. wanting, the deficiency being supplied by better and best, from another root.] [OE. wel, AS. wel; akin to OS., OFries., & D. wel, G. wohl, OHG. wola, wela, Icel. & Dan. vel, Sw. v[ a]l, Goth. wa[ i]la;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • may (very) easily — may (very) well/easily/ phrase used for saying that something is fairly likely to be true or is fairly likely to happen What you say may very well be true. A small technical error may easily result in a serious accident. it may well be that: It… …   Useful english dictionary

  • well — well1 [wel] n. [ME welle < OE wella, akin to weallan, to boil up, akin to Ger welle, wave, wallen, to boil < IE base * wel , to turn, roll > WALK, L volvere, to roll] 1. a flow of water from the earth; natural spring and pool 2. a hole… …   English World dictionary

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