[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

well-nigh \well"-nigh`\, adv.
   almost; nearly. --chaucer.
   1913 webster

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

well-nigh
     adv : of actions or states slightly short of or not quite
           accomplished; `near' is sometimes used informally for
           `nearly' and `most' is sometimes used informally for
           `almost'; "the job is just about done"; "the baby was
           almost asleep when the alarm sounded"; "we're almost
           finished"; "the car all but ran her down"; "he nearly
           fainted"; "talked for nigh onto 2 hours"; "the
           recording is well-nigh perfect"; "virtually all the
           parties signed the contract"; "i was near exhausted by
           the run"; "most everyone agrees" syn: about, just
           about, almost, most, all but, nearly, near,
           nigh, virtually
see also:
about just about almost most all but nearly 
near nigh virtually 

Well-Nigh >> W Words
Well-Nigh, definition of term: Well-Nigh
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