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withers

 - 8 dictionary results

with⋅ers

  [with-erz]
Use withers in a Sentence
–noun (used with a plural verb)
1. the highest part of the back at the base of the neck of a horse, cow, sheep, etc.
—Idiom
2. wring one's withers, to cause one anxiety or trouble: The long involved lawsuit is wringing his withers.
Origin:
1535–45; orig. uncert.

with⋅er

  [with-er]
–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 fol. 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.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME, perh. var. of weather (v.)

Related forms:
with⋅ered⋅ness, noun
with⋅er⋅er, noun
with⋅er⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

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.

With⋅er

  [with-er]
–noun
George, 1588–1667, English poet and pamphleteer.
Also, With⋅ers  [with-erz] .
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To withers
with·er   (wĭth'ər)   
v.   with·ered, with·er·ing, with·ers

v.   intr.

  1. To dry up or shrivel from or as if from loss of moisture.

  2. To lose freshness; droop.

v.   tr.

  1. To cause to shrivel or fade.

  2. To render speechless or incapable of action; stun: The teacher withered the noisy student with a glance.


[Alteration of Middle English widderen, perhaps variant of wederen, to weather, from weder, weather; see weather.]
with·ers   (wĭth'ərz)   
pl.n.  The high part of the back of a horse or similar animal, located between the shoulder blades.

[Possibly from obsolete wither-, against (from the strain exerted on them when a horse draws a load), from Middle English, from Old English; see wi- in Indo-European roots.]
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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Word Origin & History

wither 
1535, alteration of M.E. wydderen "dry up, shrivel" (c.1300), apparently a differentiated and special use of wederen "to expose to weather" (see weather). Cf. Ger. verwittern "to become weather-beaten," from Witter "weather."

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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: with·ers
Pronunciation: 'with-&rz
Function: noun plural
1 : the ridge between the shoulder bones of a horse
2 : a part corresponding to the withers in a quadruped other than a horse
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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