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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Wither

With'er, v. i.

verbintransitive

[imp. & p. p. WITHERED; p. pr. & vb. n. WITHERING.] [A-S. wyderu, withering, dryness, gewytherod, withered, originally dried by the weather or air. Cf. A-S. gewyder, the weather, a storm, weder, weather, and Ger. verwittern, to be dissolved or decayed by the operation of the weather.]

Sense 1. To fade; to lose freshness; to become sapless; to dry.

Shall he not pull up the roots thereof . . . that it wither? Ezek. xvii. 9.

Sense 2. To lose or want animal moisture; to waste; to pine away, as animal bodies. “Now warm in love, now withering in the grave.” Dryden.

Behold, there was a man that had his hand withered. Matt. xii. 10.

This is a man old, wrinkled, faded, withered. Shak.

Sense 3. To languish; to perish; to pass away. “Names that must not wither.” Byron.

With'er, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. 1. To cause to fade and become dry; as, the sun withers the grass. 2. To cause to shrink, wrinkle, and 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; as, a reputation withered by calumny.