Adjacent Words

Wither definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WITHER, v.i.
1. To fade; to lose its native freshness; to become sapless; to dry.
It shall wither in all the leaves of her spring. Ezek 17.
2. To waste; to pine away; as animal bodies; as a withered hand. Matthew 12.
3. To lose or want animal moisture.
Now warm in love, now withring in the grave.
WITHER, v.t.
1. To cause to fade and become dry; as, the sun withereth the grass. James 1.
2. To cause to shrink, wrinkle and decay, for want of animal moisture.
Age cannot wither her.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: wither, as with a loss of moisture; "The fruit dried and shriveled" [syn: shrivel, shrivel up, shrink, wither]
2: lose freshness, vigor, or vitality; "Her bloom was fading" [syn: fade, wither]

Merriam Webster's

biographical name George 1588-1667 English poet & pamphleteer

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (withered; withering) Etymology: Middle English widren; probably akin to Middle English weder weather Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. to become dry and sapless; especially to shrivel from or as if from loss of bodily moisture 2. to lose vitality, force, or freshness <public support for the bill is withering> transitive verb 1. to cause to wither 2. to make speechless or incapable of action ; stun <withered him with a look — Dorothy Sayers> II. noun Date: 1607 chiefly British withers

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. & intr. (often foll. by up) make or become dry and shrivelled (withered flowers). 2 tr. & intr. (often foll. by away) deprive of or lose vigour, vitality, freshness, or importance. 3 intr. decay, decline. 4 tr. a blight with scorn etc. b (as withering adj.) scornful (a withering look). Derivatives: witheringly adv. Etymology: ME, app. var. of WEATHER differentiated for certain senses

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wither With"er, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Withered; p. pr. & vb. n. Withering.] [OE. wideren; probably the same word as wederen to weather (see Weather, v. & n.); or cf. G. verwittern to decay, to be weather-beaten, Lith. vysti to wither.] 1. To fade; to lose freshness; to become sapless; to become sapless; to dry or shrivel up. Shall he hot pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? --Ezek. xvii. 9. 2. To lose or want animal moisture; to waste; to pin? away, as animal bodies. This is man, old, wrinkled, faded, withered. --Shak. There was a man which had his hand withered. --Matt. xii. 10. Now warm in love, now with'ring in the grave. --Dryden. 3. To lose vigor or power; to languish; to pass away. ``Names that must not wither.'' --Byron. States thrive or wither as moons wax and wane. --Cowper.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wither With"er, v. t. 1. To cause to fade, and become dry. The sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth. --James i. 11. 2. To cause to shrink, wrinkle, or decay, for want of animal moisture. ``Age can not wither her.'' --Shak. Shot forth pernicious fire Among the accursed, that withered all their strength. --Milton. 3. To cause to languish, perish, or pass away; to blight; as, a reputation withered by calumny. The passions and the cares that wither life. --Bryant.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(withers, withering, withered) 1. If someone or something withers, they become very weak. When he went into retirement, he visibly withered... Industries unable to modernise have been left to wither. VERB: V, V • Wither away means the same as wither. To see my body literally wither away before my eyes was exasperating. PHRASAL VERB: V P 2. If a flower or plant withers, it dries up and dies. The flowers in Isabel's room had withered... VERB: V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. 1. Shrivel, dry, wilt, dry up, lose freshness. 2. Waste, decay, droop, languish, pine, pine away, waste away.

Moby Thesaurus

Sanforize, age, air-dry, anhydrate, attenuate, bake, blot, brush, burn, cave in, cheat the undertaker, collapse, constrict, consume, contract, cure, decline, deflate, dehumidify, dehydrate, desiccate, diminish, dodder, drain, droop, dry, dry up, dwindle, emacerate, emaciate, evaporate, exsiccate, fade, fade away, fail, fire, flag, fold, get along, get on, grow old, insolate, kiln, languish, lose strength, macerate, mummify, mummy, parch, peak, pine, preshrink, rub, run down, scorch, sear, shake, shrink, shrivel, sink, smoke, soak up, sponge, sun, sun-dry, swab, thin, torrefy, totter, towel, turn gray, turn white, wane, waste, waste away, weaken, weazen, welter, wilt, wipe, wither away, wizen, wrinkle