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languishing - 4 dictionary results

lan⋅guish⋅ing

  [lang-gwi-shing]
Use languishing in a Sentence
–adjective
1. becoming languid, in any way.
2. expressive of languor; indicating tender, sentimental melancholy: a languishing sigh.
3. lingering: a languishing death.
Origin:
1300–50; ME; see languish, -ing 2

Related forms:
lan⋅guish⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

lan⋅guish

  [lang-gwish]
–verb (used without object)
1. to be or become weak or feeble; droop; fade.
2. to lose vigor and vitality.
3. to undergo neglect or experience prolonged inactivity; suffer hardship and distress: to languish in prison for ten years.
4. to be subjected to delay or disregard; be ignored: a petition that languished on the warden's desk for a year.
5. to pine with desire or longing.
6. to assume an expression of tender, sentimental melancholy.
–noun
7. the act or state of languishing.
8. a tender, melancholy look or expression.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME < MF languiss-, long s. of languir ≪ L languēre to languish; akin to laxus lax; see -ish 2

Related forms:
lan⋅guish⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To languishing
lan·guish   (lāng'gwĭsh)   
intr.v.   lan·guished, lan·guish·ing, lan·guish·es
  1. To be or become weak or feeble; lose strength or vigor.
  2. To exist or continue in miserable or disheartening conditions: languished away in prison.
  3. To remain unattended or be neglected: legislation that continued to languish in committee.
  4. To become downcast or pine away in longing: languish apart from friends and family; languish for a change from dull routine.
  5. To affect a wistful or languid air, especially in order to gain sympathy.

[Middle English languishen, from Old French languir, languiss-, from Latin languēre, to be languid; see slēg- in Indo-European roots.]
lan'guish·er n., lan'guish·ing·ly adv., lan'guish·ment n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Languishing

Lan"guish*ing\, a. 1. Becoming languid and weak; pining; losing health and strength.

2. Amorously pensive; as, languishing eyes, or look.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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