Adjacent Words

Languish definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LAN'GUISH, v.i. [L. langueo, lachinisso; Gr. to flag, to lag. L. laxo, laxus, flacceo.]
1. To lose strength or animation; to be or become dull, feeble or spiritless; to pine; to be or to grow heavy. We languish under disease or after excessive exertion.
She that hath borne seven languisheth. Jeremiah 15.
2. To wither; to fade; to lose the vegetating power.
For the fields of Heshbon languisheth. Jeremiah 15.
3. To grow dull; to be no longer active and vigorous. The war languished for want of supplies. Commerce, agriculture, manufactures languish, not for want of money, but for want of good markets.
4. To pine or sink under sorrow or any continued passion; as, a woman languishes for the loss of her lover.
Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish. Hosea 4.
5. To look with softness or tenderness, as with the head reclined and a peculiar cast of the eye.
LAN'GUISH, v.t. To cause to droop or pine. [Little used.]
LAN'GUISH, n. Act of pining; also, a soft and tender look or appearance.
And the blue languish of soft Allia's eye.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief; "After her husband died, she just pined away" [syn: pine away, waste, languish]
2: have a desire for something or someone who is not present; "She ached for a cigarette"; "I am pining for my lover" [syn: ache, yearn, yen, pine, languish]
3: become feeble; "The prisoner has be languishing for years in the dungeon" [syn: languish, fade]

Merriam Webster's

intransitive verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French languiss-, stem of languir, from Vulgar Latin *languire, from Latin langu?re Date: 14th century 1. a. to be or become feeble, weak, or enervated b. to be or live in a state of depression or decreasing vitality 2. a. to become dispirited b. to suffer neglect <the bill languished in the Senate for eight months> 3. to assume an expression of grief or emotion appealing for sympathy • languisher noun • languishingly adverb • languishment noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.intr. 1 be or grow feeble; lose or lack vitality. 2 put on a sentimentally tender or languid look. Phrases and idioms: languish for droop or pine for. languish under suffer under (esp. depression, confinement, etc.). Derivatives: languisher n. languishingly adv. languishment n. Etymology: ME f. OF languir, ult. f. L languere, rel. to LAX

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Languish Lan"guish, v. i. To cause to droop or pine. [Obs.] --Shak. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Languish Lan"guish, n. See Languishiment. [Obs. or Poetic] What, of death, too, That rids our dogs of languish ? --Shak. And the blue languish of soft Allia's eye. --Pope.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Languish Lan"guish, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Languished; p. pr. & vb. n. Languishing.] [OE. languishen, languissen, F. languir, L. languere; cf. Gr. ? to slacken, ? slack, Icel. lakra to lag behind; prob. akin to E. lag, lax, and perh. to E. slack.See -ish.] 1. To become languid or weak; to lose strength or animation; to be or become dull, feeble or spiritless; to pine away; to wither or fade. We . . . do languish of such diseases. --2 Esdras viii. 31. Cease, fond nature, cease thy strife, And let me landguish into life. --Pope. For the fields of Heshbon languish. --Is. xvi. 8. 2. To assume an expression of weariness or tender grief, appealing for sympathy. --Tennyson. Syn: To pine; wither; fade; droop; faint.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(languishes, languishing, languished) 1. If someone languishes somewhere, they are forced to remain and suffer in an unpleasant situation. Pollard continues to languish in prison... VERB: V prep/adv 2. If something languishes, it is not successful, often because of a lack of effort or because of a lot of difficulties. Without the founder's drive and direction, the company gradually languished... VERB: V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. 1. Droop, pine, faint, fade, wither, decline, fail, become feeble, pine away, waste away. 2. Look tender, have the air of a lover.

Moby Thesaurus

abate, ablate, bate, be eaten away, become suicidal, break, cave in, collapse, come apart, come unstuck, conk out, consume, consume away, corrode, crumble, decline, decrease, deliquesce, desiccate, despair, despond, deteriorate, die away, diminish, disintegrate, dive, droop, drop, drop off, dry up, dwindle, ebb, erode, fade, fade away, fail, faint, fall, fall away, fall off, fizzle out, flag, give out, give way, go downhill, go soft, go to pieces, hit rock bottom, hit the skids, lessen, let up, lose heart, lose strength, melt away, peak, peg out, peter out, pine, plumb the depths, plummet, plunge, poop out, reach the depths, run down, run low, sag, sear, shrink, shrivel, sink, subside, tail off, touch bottom, wane, waste, waste away, weaken, wear, wear away, wear thin, wilt, wither, wither away, wizen, yield