Nearby Words
noun (used with a plural verb)
Idiom1.
the highest part of the back at the base of the neck of a horse, cow, sheep, etc.
2.
wring one's withers, to cause one anxiety or trouble: The long involved lawsuit is wringing his withers.
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Withers
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
Origin:
1535–45; origin uncertain
1535–45; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
verb (used without object)
1.
to shrivel; fade; decay: The grapes had withered on the vine.
2.
to lose the freshness of youth, as from age (often followed by away).
verb (used with object)
3.
to make flaccid, shrunken, or dry, as from loss of moisture; cause to lose freshness, bloom, vigor, etc.: The drought withered the buds.
4.
to affect harmfully: Reputations were withered by the scandal.
5.
to abash, as by a scathing glance: a look that withered him.
Related forms
with·ered·ness, noun
with·er·er, noun
with·er·ing·ly, adverb
non·with·er·ing, adjective
o·ver·with·ered, adjective
EXPANDCan be confused: 1. weather, whether, whither, wither (see synonym note at the current entry); 2. whither, wither.
Synonyms
1. wrinkle, shrink, dry, decline, languish, droop, waste. Wither, shrivel imply a shrinking, wilting, and wrinkling. Wither (of plants and flowers) is to dry up, shrink, wilt, fade, whether as a natural process or as the result of exposure to excessive heat or drought: Plants withered in the hot sun. Shrivel, used of thin, flat objects and substances, such as leaves, the skin, etc., means to curl, roll up, become wrinkled: The leaves shrivel in cold weather. Paper shrivels in fire. 5. humiliate, shame.
1. wrinkle, shrink, dry, decline, languish, droop, waste. Wither, shrivel imply a shrinking, wilting, and wrinkling. Wither (of plants and flowers) is to dry up, shrink, wilt, fade, whether as a natural process or as the result of exposure to excessive heat or drought: Plants withered in the hot sun. Shrivel, used of thin, flat objects and substances, such as leaves, the skin, etc., means to curl, roll up, become wrinkled: The leaves shrivel in cold weather. Paper shrivels in fire. 5. humiliate, shame.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To withers
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
withers
1580, probably from a dialectal survival of O.E. wiðer "against, contrary, opposite" (see with) + plural suffix. Possibly so called because the withers are the parts of the animal that oppose the load. Cf. Ger. Widerrist "withers," from wider "against" + Rist "wrist."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Word Dynamo Rating For Withers
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