▪ I. † wither, n.1 Obs.
[OE. wiþre (once), f. wiþer wither a.]
Opposition, hostility; adversity. on wiðere, adversely.
| Beowulf 2953 [He] wiðres ne truwode, þæt he sæmannum onsacan mihte. c 1205 Lay. 1418 Þe heo wolden mid wiðere þan kinge wið-stonden. Ibid. 2884 Þe wind him com on wiðere. Ibid. 4678 Þat ich wes i wide sæ wiðer com toȝenes. |
▪ II. wither, n.2
(ˈwɪðə(r))
Also 8 wether.
[f. wither v.2]
† 1. A disease of cows. Obs.
| 1652 W. Poole Country Farrier 48 A Cow that hath the Wither. a 1722 Lisle Observ. Husb. (1757) 294 The wether that comes forth either before or after calving. [Cf. 1750 Ellis Cy. Housewife 359 That fatal Malady that some call Withering, that is to say, her Bearing comes out behind.] |
2. Tea-manuf. The process of withering (see wither v.2 4 c).
| 1897 D. Crole Tea vii. 114 Should..the weather not be propitious for a natural wither, none of this leaf would be ready for rolling. 1903 C. Bald Indian Tea xv. (1917) 225 Leaf is ready for rolling when it has become absolutely soft and flaccid, without being in any sense dried up [marg. Good wither]. |
▪ III. wither, n.3
occas. sing. of withers.
▪ IV. ˈwither, a. and adv. Obs. or dial.
Also 1, 3 wiþer, wiðer, 3 Orm. wiþerr, 4–5 wyþer, 5 wethire, whiþer, wythyr.
[OE. wiþer adv. or adj. (rare), related to wiþer prep. = OFris. wither, OS. withar (MLG. wêder, wedder, MDu., Du. weder, weer), OHG. widar (MHG. wider, G. wider prep. and wieder adv.), ON. viðr, Goth. wiþra; OE. has also wiþ(e)re prep. = ONFris. withere (MDu. wêdere), OHG. widari (MHG. widere): f. Indo-Eur. wi- denoting separation or division + comp. suffix -tero- (cf. Skr. vitarám further). See also wither-1.]
A. adj.
1. Hostile, adverse; fierce.
| [c 1000 Gloss. in Germania (N.S.) XI. 394/366 Infensus, wiþer.] c 1200 Ormin 11389 Ga, wiþerr gast, o bacch fra me. c 1205 Lay. 9287 Þer he isæh Wiðe[r] king þe wiðer wes an compe. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 275 Sicambri were afterward i-cleped Franci, as it were feranci, þat is wither and sterne. c 1746 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) View Lanc. Dial. Wks. (1862) 60 O lusty wither Tyke. [Cf. 1847 Halliwell, Wither..a strong fellow. Yorksh... Withering, (1) strong; lusty. Chesh.] |
2. Contrary, opposite; wrong (side).
| c 1205 Lay. 11972 Þa aras heom a wind a þere wiðer side. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 230 On wyþer half water com doun þe schore. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 3355 Þat he wirke noȝt on þe wethire halfe. |
† B. adv. Hostilely; perversely; fiercely. Obs.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 121 Men bien swo wiðerfulle, þat swo he ȝerenluker clepeð hem to him, swo hie wiðere turneð froward him. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3386 Amalech folc faȝt hard and wiðer. |
Hence ˈwitherly a., contrary, perverse; adv., fiercely, violently. Obs. or dial.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 198 Neuer ȝet in no boke breued I herde Þat euer he wrek so wyþerly on werk þat he made. Ibid. C. 74 Al he wrathed in his wyt & wyþerly he þoȝt. 1790 Grose Prov. Gloss. (ed. 2), Witherly, wilful, contrary. 1847 Halliwell, Witherly, hastily; violently. Devon. |
▪ V. † wither, v.1 Obs.
[OE. wiþerian = MDu. wedderen, OHG. widarôn (MHG. wider(e)n): f. wiþer (see prec.).]
intr. To be hostile; to offer resistance, fight, struggle.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 552 For ði synd ða ᵹesibsuman Godes bearn, forðan ðe nan ðing on him ne wiðeraþ onᵹean God. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 63 Ȝif we wiðerið on dede and on speche toȝenes ure chirche. c 1220 Bestiary 475 Til ðat ðer fleȝes faren and fallen ðer-inne, wiðeren in ðat web, and wilen ut wenden. a 1225 St. Marher. 14 Wrestlin ha moten ant wiðerin wið ham seoluen. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 48 Þenne is me lyȝtloker hit lyke..Þenne wyþer wyth & be wroth. |
▪ VI. wither, v.2
(ˈwɪðə(r))
Forms: α. 4–6 wydder, widder, (5 widre, 6 wyddre, weder). β. 6 wyther, (6–7 whither, 7 weather), 6– wither. See also withered.
[app. var. of weather v. ultimately differentiated for certain senses.]
1. intr. Of a plant: To become dry and shrivel up. Often in fig. context or in comparisons. Also with advs.
| α 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 468, & wyddered was þe wodbynde bi þat þe wyȝe wakned. c 1400 26 Pol. Poems v. 5 Riȝt as hay, þey mon widre. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 378 b/1 They shal neuer fade ne wydder ne lose theyr sauour. 1508 Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. cii. Wks. (1876) 146 Saynt Iames compareth the vanyte of this lyfe to the vapoure and sayth it shall perysshe and weder awaye as a floure in the hey season. 1521 ― Serm. agst. Luther ibid. 323 Trees whan they be wydred and theyr leues shaken from them. 1526 Tindale Matt. xxi. 19 The fygge tree wyddered awaye. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) Bb vij b, The grenenes of youthe shall waste and wydder in age. |
| β 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. ii. i. 54 Such short liu'd wits do wither as they grow. 1593 ― Rich. II, v. i. 8 See, or rather doe not see, My faire Rose wither. 1634 Milton Comus 744 Like a neglected rose It withers on the stalk with languish't head. 1668 J. Owen Indwelling-Sin xiii. 214 He melts down the lusts of men, causeth them to wither at the root. 1763 Mills Syst. Pract. Husb. IV. 32 Before their necks are withered off, the bulbs should be taken up. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. xliii. IV. 331 The harvest and the vintage withered on the ground. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 948 Like flowers we wither, and like leaves we fall. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. xxxii, The tree will wither long before it fall. 1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall 190 Now for me the woods may wither, now for me the roof-tree fall. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. cxiv. III. 643 After a year or two of bloom, a town wilts and withers. |
2. Of other animate things: To become dried up or shrivelled; to lose vigour from lack of animal moisture; to pine or fade away with age, disease, decay, etc.
| α c 1400 Destr. Troy 5301 Þe fre kyng Teutra Wex weike of his wound & widrit to dethe. c 1460 Towneley Myst. iii. 63 Now I wax old,..As muk apon mold I widder away. |
| β 1582 N.T. (Rhem.) Mark ix. 18 He fometh, and gnasheth with the teeth, and withereth. 1748 R. James Diss. Fevers (1778) 157 When the eruptions begin to subside and wither. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam vi. xlix, All lips which I have kissed must surely wither, But Death's. 1848 Dickens Dombey xv, Do a kindness to the sweet dear that is withering away. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 652 Those more unfortunate men who were withering under the tropical sun. 1898 J. Hutchinson in Archives Surg. IX. 309 Many of the nodules are distinctly withering. |
3. fig. Of persons, or of inanimate and immaterial things: To lose vigour or freshness, to languish, decline, pine away, fade, fall into decay.
| α 1508 Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. cii. Wks. (1876) 147 Vnderstandynge wyll and reason..be so vtterly wedred and dryed vp, that no maner of moysture of deuocyon is in them. 1523 [Coverdale] Old God & New (1534) B, Y{supu}..doest not widder & dry vp w{supt} ydelnes. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Edw. IV, v, As vanity to nought all is wyddred away. |
| β 1535 Coverdale Ecclus. x. 17 He hath caused them to wyther awaye, he hath brought them to naught. 1625 Sanderson Serm., Ad Magistr. iii. (1632) 248 Men that..are now arrived at the haven of their businesse, to wither [later edd. weather] for their pasports. a 1647 Habington Surv. Worcestershire (1895) I. 70 An honest gentellman witheringe in pouerty. a 1656 Hales Gold. Rem. (1673) 123 An hope of excellent things..which..for want of cherishing fades and withers away. 1688 Addr. fr. Winchester in Lond. Gaz. No. 2350/1 This Ancient City, which is now again weathering by their Absence, which began to Flourish..from being blessed with their Presence. 1725 Pope Odyss. xix. 246 With'ring at heart to see the weeping Fair. 1781 Cowper Expost. 324 States thrive or wither, as moons wax and wane. 1812 Crabbe Tales xvi. 268 A hue like this the western sky displays, That glows awhile, and withers as we gaze. 1830 Galt Lawrie T. iii. ii. (1849) 87 My heart withered as I contemplated the scene. 1850 Maurice Mor. & Met. Philos. (ed. 2) 155 When that sense [of national union] is weakened it withers. 1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. I. i. 8 Christianity..withered under Frank patronage. 1901 Scotsman 6 Nov. 9/4 It would be absurd to expect Consols..to stand..at a high level, when all other securities are withering in price. |
b. spec. in phr. to wither away, used with reference to the belief held in Marxist philosophy that when the dictatorship of the proletariat has effected the necessary changes in society, the state will eventually cease to be necessary and will therefore disappear; also used allusively or generally. So withering away.
| 1919 tr. Lenin's State & Revol. i. 21 Engels speaks here of the destruction of the capitalist State by the proletarian revolution, while the words about its withering away refer to the remains of a proletarian State after the Socialist revolution. Ibid. 22 Only the proletarian State or semi-State withers away after the revolution. 1935 E. Burns tr. Engels' Anti-Dühring iii. ii. 315 The government of persons is replaced by the administration of things and the direction of the process of production. The state is not ‘abolished’, it withers away. 1937 Times 7 July 17/6 The Marxist theory of the ‘withering away’ of the State. 1948 M. Laski Tory Heaven v. 81 Reynolds is an M.I.5 nark... Eventually, they say, all that sort of thing will just wither away. 1971 Guardian 9 Sept. 13/1 Stormont was designed to wither away. It was invented in the hope that the two parts of Ireland would become united within the British Empire. 1980 D. Fernbach tr. Buci-Glucksmann's Gramsci & State xii. 285 The transition from an inevitable ‘productivist’ phase to an integral state thus takes place by way of hegemony and the distant tendential perspective of a withering away of the state. Ibid. 289 A state that withers away to the extent that its function withers away. |
† 4. a. intr. and pass. Of a crop: To be dried, to dry. Obs.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §25 Hey,..whan it is wel wyddred on the ouersyde and drye, than turne it. Ibid. §31 Pees and beanes.. wrythen togyder, and wyde benethe, that they maye the better wyddre. 1573–80 Tusser Husb. (1878) 131 Corne being had downe..should wither as needeth, for burning in mow. |
† b. trans. To air: = weather v. 1 b. Obs.
| 1544 T. Phaer Pestilence (1553) L vij, Nor weare any of their apparell, excepte they be well sunned, or wythered in the clean ayre. a 1613 Overbury A Wife, etc. (1638) 180 He withers his clothes on a stage as a Sale-man inforc't to does his sutes in Birchin-lane. |
c. Tea-manuf. To dry (tea leaf) before roasting. Also absol. Also intr. of the leaf.
| 1753 F. Pigou Of Tea in A. Dalrymple Oriental Repertory (1797) II. 288 [Bohea-tea] is gathered, then put in Sieves, or Baskets,..and those put in the air, till the leaves wither, or give. Ibid., Youngshaw..says, that the leaves of Souchon..are beat with flat sticks,..after they have been withered, by the Sun, or Air. 1870 E. Money Tea xxiv. (1878) 108 Why wither at all? I made Tea..of 1st, totally unwithered leaves; and, of leaves but little withered. 1892 J. M. Walsh Tea (Philad.) 104 Two leaves only being picked at a time and ‘withered’ in the open air. |
† d. intr. = weather v. 2 b. Obs. rare.
Cf. G. verwittern.
| 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. 224 [Wacken] withers by exposure to the atmosphere, and then becomes more grey. [1834 L. Ritchie Wand. Seine 97 The deserted pile withered away stone by stone beneath the breath of heaven.] |
5. trans. To cause (a plant, flower, etc.) to dry up and shrivel. Also in fig. context.
| 1555 Eden Decades 292, I..sawe the braunches of frutefull trees wythyred by the coulde. 1596 Edw. III, ii. i. 390 The Sunne, that withers heye, doth nourish grasse. 1668 J. Owen Indwelling-Sin xv. 253 He makes their lives..unfruitful to others, in weakening their root, and withering their fruit through his poisoning temptations. 1765 Goldsm. Double Transform. 76 That dire disease, whose ruthless power Withers the beauty's transient flower. 1831 James Phil. Augustus xxiv, On whose rosy cheek the touch of care had withered not a flower. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xlvi, Where a factory planted among fields withered the space about it, like a burning mountain. 1885 Clodd Myths & Dr. i. iii. 41 The fierce heat that withered the approaching harvest. |
6. To cause (the body or the physical powers) to become wasted or decayed; to cause to shrink, become wrinkled, or lose freshness.
| 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe 13 [They] haue not withred vp their handes in signing and subscribing to their requests. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. ii. 240 Age cannot wither her. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iii. x. 149 They..attenuate our bodies, dry them, wither them. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 850 Every eye..shot forth pernicious fire Among th' accurst, that witherd all thir strength. 1740 Dyer Ruins Rome 477 Enfeebling vice Withers each nerve. 1827 Scott Highl. Widow v, May the tongue that tells me of his death..be withered in thy mouth. |
7. fig. To destroy the vitality or vigour of; to cause to decline, decay, or waste; now somewhat rare exc. in hyperbolical use, to blight or paralyse with a look of scorn or the like. Also with † out.
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. i. 7 Like to a Step-dame, or a Dowager, Long withering out a yong mans reuennew. 1608 Yorksh. Trag. iii. 11 Himselfe withered with debts. 1700 Dryden Pal. & Arc. iii. 303 Wild Amazement flung From out thy Chariot, withers ev'n the Strong. 1725 Pope Odyss. viii. 120 Like Mars terrific,..When clad in wrath he withers hosts of foes. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague ii. iii, Repent! before the red-eyed Wrath Wither you to ghosts. 1837 Dickens Pickw. iii, Dr. Slammer..said nothing, but contented himself by withering the company with a look. 1854 J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1855) I. xxx. 462 The historian..would have been withered by the frowns which would have darkened upon him from the saloons of Versailles [etc.]. 1887 A. Jessopp Arcady 172 The world is getting quite too much for us—withering us, in fact. |
▪ VII. wither
var. witter n.2