wherewithal, adv. (n.)
(hwɛəwɪˈðɔːl)
[f. where 15 + withal.]
I. 1. interrog. = prec. 1. arch.
| 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxviii[i]. 9 Where withall shall a yonge man clense his waye? 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus ii. iii. M ij b, Where withal I beseche the..shall men bye or make prouysion for our cates? 1611 Bible Matt. vi. 31 Wherewithall shall wee be clothed? 1798 C. Smith Yng. Philos. III. 96 He never was so hard run for money. Knew not wherewithal to pay his duties. |
II. rel. 2. = prec. 2.
arch.| 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. xxvii. 353 The iuyce of Aloë..openeth the belly, in purging..humours, especially suche wherewithal the stomacke is burdened. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, v. i. 55 Northumberland, thou Ladder wherewithall The mounting Bullingbrooke ascends my Throne. 1615 Wither Sheph. Hunt. iv. E 5, The rest Wherewithall thy minde is blest. a 1673 Horton Expos. Ps. lxiii. 7 (1675) 590 He is not like the Egyptian Task-masters, which require brick, and give no straw wherewithal to make it. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, viii. III. 88 The..marks of his good-will and gratitude wherewithal they had been honoured. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxxi, Mrs. Miff has heard..that the lady hasn't got a sixpence wherewithal to bless herself. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 344 The love I had therefor was not so much above That wherewithal I loved the silver ring. |
b. With ellipsis of antecedent, or as compound relative:
= prec. 2 b. (
a) followed by inf. with
to; (
b) with ellipsis of inf. (See also c.)
arch.| (a) 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 93 If he haue not wherewithall to maintaine his estate. 1659 Milton Hirelings 32 No people to pay him tithes, but his own children and servants, who had not wherewithall to pay him, but of his own. 1693 Mem. Count Teckely iii. 66 Teckely being in the Neighbourhood, without having wherewithal to attempt any thing by force. 1742 Fielding J. Andrews iv. i, When your ladyship's livery was stript off, he had not wherewithal to buy a coat. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xxxi, They gave him what they had, and hulled him with every shot... He had not wherewithal to return the compliment. |
| (b) 1605 Lond. Prodigal i. ii, The charge is small charge, syr; I thanke God my father left me wherewithal. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. iii. 59 That Churchman Beares a bounteous minde indeed... His dewes fall euery where... L. San. He may, my Lord, H'as wherewithall. 1663 Dryden Wild Gallant i. ii, My husband and I cannot live by Love, as they say; we must have wherewithal, as they say. 1730 Ramsay Fables vi. 21 Them that wanted wherewitha', He dang them back. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xix, ‘Here is wherewithal’, said Martin. |
c. Preceded by the definite (rarely the indefinite) article, which qualifies the omitted or implied antecedent: (
a) followed by inf. with
to = means by which, resource with which (
to do something); (
b) with ellipsis of inf. (chiefly
colloq.), thus becoming a
n. = means,
esp. pecuniary means; resource or supply (
esp. money) needed for the purpose in view.
| (a) 1809 Malkin Gil Blas i. viii. ¶2 There is a where⁓withal to satisfy your craving. 1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike xii. 127 A..hope..that this day's post would have brought the wherewithal to build up new expectations. 1917 Engl. Hist. Rev. Oct. 490 To supply him with the wherewithal to pay for the defence of the border. |
| (b) 1809 Malkin Gil Blas vii. xii. ¶13 How the devil does she mean that I should get the wherewithal? 1861 Musgrave By-Roads & Battle-F. 14 The design comprised a harbour for vessels carrying forty guns; but the where⁓withal failed. 1890 Besant Demoniac iii, Our English girls, when they have got the wherewithal, do in the second generation easily assume the aristocratic manner and appearance. |
† 3. = prec. 3.
Obs.| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 695 He forgot Diana, where⁓withall she was very angry. 1640 tr. Verdere's Rom. of Rom. II. 23 The accents of the voice..made him conclude that they proceeded from a person very much afflicted: wherewithall he was so moved to pity, [etc.]. |
4. = prec. 4.
Obs. or
rare arch.| 1618 Wither Motto, Nec Curo 193 A knowledge where⁓withall He is prepar'd for whatsoe're may fall. 1846 Hawthorne Mosses ii. P.'s Corr., With precisely the same complacency of conscience, wherewithal he contemplates the volume of discourses above-mentioned. |
† b. = prec. 4 b.
Obs.| a 1542 Wyatt Poems, ‘The longe love, that in my thought’ 9 Where with all, vntoo the herte forrest hee fleith. 1640 tr. Verdere's Rom. of Rom. II. 39 Wherewithall considering the..obligation wherein he was bound to her affection, he resolved to let her see how sensible he was of a benefit. |