wither

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with·er

(wĭth′ər)

v. with·ered, with·er·ing, with·ers

v.intr.

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

2. To lose force or vitality; become diminished; wane: "Belief in industry self-regulation took hold ... and formal regulation was allowed to wither" (Eduardo Porter).

v.tr.

1. To cause to shrivel or fade.

2. To cause to lose force or vitality; diminish or destroy: "Three years apart had withered her hopes and she was engaged to someone else" (John Garth).

3. 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.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

wither

(ˈwɪðə)

1. (Botany) (intr) (esp of a plant) to droop, wilt, or shrivel up

2. (often foll by: away) to fade or waste: all hope withered away.

3. (intr) to decay, decline, or disintegrate

4. (tr) to cause to wilt, fade, or lose vitality

5. (tr) to abash, esp with a scornful look

6. (tr) to harm or damage

[C14: perhaps variant of weather (vb); related to German verwittern to decay]

ˈwithered adj

ˈwitherer n

ˈwithering adj

ˈwitheringly adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

with•er

(ˈwɪð ər)

v.i.

1. to shrivel; fade; decay: The grapes had withered on the vine.

2. to lose the freshness of youth (often fol. by away).

v.t.

3. to cause to shrivel, fade, or lose vigor or bloom.

4. to abash, as by a scathing glance; humiliate; shame.

[1250–1300]

with′er•er, n.

with′er•ing•ly, adv.

wither

Past participle: withered
Gerund: withering

Imperative
wither
wither

Present
I wither
you wither
he/she/it withers
we wither
you wither
they wither

Preterite
I withered
you withered
he/she/it withered
we withered
you withered
they withered

Present Continuous
I am withering
you are withering
he/she/it is withering
we are withering
you are withering
they are withering

Present Perfect
I have withered
you have withered
he/she/it has withered
we have withered
you have withered
they have withered

Past Continuous
I was withering
you were withering
he/she/it was withering
we were withering
you were withering
they were withering

Past Perfect
I had withered
you had withered
he/she/it had withered
we had withered
you had withered
they had withered

Future
I will wither
you will wither
he/she/it will wither
we will wither
you will wither
they will wither

Future Perfect
I will have withered
you will have withered
he/she/it will have withered
we will have withered
you will have withered
they will have withered

Future Continuous
I will be withering
you will be withering
he/she/it will be withering
we will be withering
you will be withering
they will be withering

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been withering
you have been withering
he/she/it has been withering
we have been withering
you have been withering
they have been withering

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been withering
you will have been withering
he/she/it will have been withering
we will have been withering
you will have been withering
they will have been withering

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been withering
you had been withering
he/she/it had been withering
we had been withering
you had been withering
they had been withering

Conditional
I would wither
you would wither
he/she/it would wither
we would wither
you would wither
they would wither

Past Conditional
I would have withered
you would have withered
he/she/it would have withered
we would have withered
you would have withered
they would have withered

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Verb	1.	wither - wither, as with a loss of moisture; "The fruit dried and shriveled" shrink, shrivel, shrivel up atrophy - undergo atrophy; "Muscles that are not used will atrophy" decrease, diminish, lessen, fall - decrease in size, extent, or range; "The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester"; "The cabin pressure fell dramatically"; "her weight fell to under a hundred pounds"; "his voice fell to a whisper" blast - shrivel or wither or mature imperfectly die back, die down - suffer from a disease that kills shoots; "The plants near the garage are dying back" dry up, mummify - dry up and shrivel due to complete loss of moisture; "a mummified body was found"
	2.	wither - lose freshness, vigor, or vitality; "Her bloom was fading" fade disappear, vanish, go away - get lost, as without warning or explanation; "He disappeared without a trace"

wither

verb

1. wilt, dry, decline, shrink, decay, disintegrate, perish, languish, droop, shrivel, desiccate Farmers have watched their crops wither because of the drought.
wilt develop, thrive, flourish, bloom, blossom

2. waste, decline, shrink, shrivel, atrophy His leg muscles had withered from lack of use.

3. fade, decline, wane, perish His dream of being a famous footballer withered and died.
fade increase, develop, succeed, flourish, bloom, wax, blossom, prosper

4. humiliate, blast, shame, put down, snub, mortify, abash Mary withered me with a glance.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

wither

verb

1. To make or become no longer fresh or shapely because of loss of moisture:

dry up, mummify, sear, shrivel, wizen.

2. To waste away from longing or grief:

languish, pine (away).

3. To render helpless, as by emotion:

benumb, numb, paralyze, petrify, stun, stupefy.

Translations

يَذْبُل، يَذْوي

udtørrevisne

austrocknen verwelken welken

μαραίνομαι μαραίνω

faner

skrælna, visna

appassire avvizzire essiccazione far appassire fulminare con un'occhiata

sudžiūtisuvytintivytinti

novīstnovītināt

blomstre av

veşteji

высыхать

spôsobiť vädnutie

posušiti se

kuru maksararıp sol mak

枯萎

wither

[ˈwɪðəʳ]

A. VT [+ flower, plant] → marchitar
to wither sb with a look → aplastar or fulminar a algn con la mirada

B. VI [flower, plant, beauty] → marchitarse; [limb] → debilitarse, atrofiarse; [person] → debilitarse; [hope] → desvanecerse

wither away VI + ADV [flower, plant] → marchitarse; [hope] → desvanecerse

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

wither

[ˈwɪðə^r] vi

[flower] → faner; [plant, crops] → sécher sur pied

(= become weak) [person, industry] → dépérir; [industry] → péricliter; [hopes] → s'évanouir

wither

vt plants etc → verdörren, austrocknen; (fig) → zum Schwinden bringen; to wither somebody with a look → jdm einen vernichtenden Blick zuwerfen

(lit) → verdorren, ausdorren; (limb) → verkümmern

(fig) → welken; (religion) → dahinschwinden

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

wither

[ˈwɪðəʳ]

1. vt → far appassire

2. vi (plant) → appassire; (limb) → atrofizzarsi (fig) (love, passion) → spegnersi; (beauty) → sfiorire

wither

(ˈwiðə) verb

(of plants etc) to (cause to) fade, dry up, or decay. The plants withered because they had no water; The sun has withered my plants.

References in classic literature ?

If people cannot be assured of graves, I fear they will no longer die, and the best interests of civilisation will wither like a frosted leaf."

View in context

But if any advised you wrongly, the light will wither him."

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Ah, lieth everything already withered and grey which but lately stood green and many-hued on this meadow!

View in context

The healthiest of them resembled, to use an expression of Marryat's, "Hunger's eldest son when he had come of age"; the others were either blind, had withered legs and crept about on their hands, or withered arms and fingerless hands.

View in context

But by what perversity of taste had the artist represented his principal figure as so wrinkled and decayed, while yet he had decked her out in the brightest splendor of attire, as if the loveliest maiden had suddenly withered into age, and become a moral to the beautiful around her!

View in context

It had aged to keep sad company with his own withered features.

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It was lean and withered. He lifted both hands to his face.

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And every tongue, through utter drought, Was withered at the root; We could not speak, no more than if We had been choked with soot.

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Hesiod's diction is in the main Homeric, but one of his charms is the use of quaint allusive phrases derived, perhaps, from a pre- Hesiodic peasant poetry: thus the season when Boreas blows is the time when `the Boneless One gnaws his foot by his fireless hearth in his cheerless house'; to cut one's nails is `to sever the withered from the quick upon that which has five branches'; similarly the burglar is the `day-sleeper', and the serpent is the `hairless one'.

View in context

BILL WITHERS, sworn, said: "I was coming along about

View in context

Their bed of withered oak leaves was strewn upon the small level space, at the foot of a rock, situated near the summit of one of the gentle swells by which the face of the country is there diversified.

View in context

Hail to you, sons of Senzangacona, who to-morrow shall be spirits!" and I pointed towards them with my withered hand.