Wither

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Wither \With"er\, v. t.
     1. To cause to fade, and become dry.
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              The sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but
              it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof


              falleth.                              --James i. 11.
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     2. To cause to shrink, wrinkle, or decay, for want of animal
        moisture. "Age can not {wither} her." --Shak.
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              Shot forth pernicious fire
              Among the accursed, that withered all their
              strength.                             --Milton.
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     3. To cause to languish, perish, or pass away; to blight; as,
        a reputation withered by calumny.
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              The passions and the cares that wither life.
                                                    --Bryant.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Wither \With"er\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Withered}; p. pr. & vb.
     n. {Withering}.] [OE. wideren; probably the same word as
     wederen to weather (see {Weather}, v. & n.); or cf. G.
     verwittern to decay, to be weather-beaten, Lith. vysti to
     wither.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. To fade; to lose freshness; to become sapless; to become
        sapless; to dry or shrivel up.
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              Shall he hot pull up the roots thereof, and cut off
              the fruit thereof, that it wither?    --Ezek. xvii.
                                                    9.
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     2. To lose or want animal moisture; to waste; to pin? away,
        as animal bodies.
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              This is man, old, wrinkled, faded, withered. --Shak.
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              There was a man which had his hand withered. --Matt.
                                                    xii. 10.
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              Now warm in love, now with'ring in the grave.
                                                    --Dryden.
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     3. To lose vigor or power; to languish; to pass away. "Names
        that must not wither." --Byron.
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              States thrive or wither as moons wax and wane.
                                                    --Cowper.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  wither
       v 1: wither, especially with a loss of moisture; "The fruit dried
            and shriveled" [syn: {shrivel}, {shrivel up}, {shrink}]
       2: lose freshness, vigor, or vitality; "Her bloom was fading"
          [syn: {fade}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  83 Moby Thesaurus words for "wither":
     Sanforize, age, air-dry, anhydrate, attenuate, bake, blot, brush,
     burn, cave in, cheat the undertaker, collapse, constrict, consume,
     contract, cure, decline, deflate, dehumidify, dehydrate, desiccate,
     diminish, dodder, drain, droop, dry, dry up, dwindle, emacerate,
     emaciate, evaporate, exsiccate, fade, fade away, fail, fire, flag,
     fold, get along, get on, grow old, insolate, kiln, languish,
     lose strength, macerate, mummify, mummy, parch, peak, pine,
     preshrink, rub, run down, scorch, sear, shake, shrink, shrivel,
     sink, smoke, soak up, sponge, sun, sun-dry, swab, thin, torrefy,
     totter, towel, turn gray, turn white, wane, waste, waste away,
     weaken, weazen, welter, wilt, wipe, wither away, wizen, wrinkle