A person who works on an oil well or water well; someone employed in the operation and maintenance of wells.
Compound of 'well' (a deep hole for extracting water or oil) and 'man' (worker). This occupational term emerged with industrial resource extraction in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Wellman was once a prestigious job in oil-rich regions—these workers possessed specialized knowledge about underground pressure, geology, and survival that made them some of the most valued workers of the industrial era.
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