wither

play

verb with·er \ ˈwi-t͟hər \

Definition of wither

withered; withering play \ˈwit͟h-riŋ, ˈwi-t͟hə-\

intransitive verb

1 :to become dry and sapless; especially :to shrivel from or as if from loss of bodily moisture

2 :to lose vitality, force, or freshness

public support for the bill is withering

transitive verb

1 :to cause to wither

2 :to make speechless or incapable of action :stun

withered him with a look
—Dorothy Sayers

See wither defined for English-language learners

See wither defined for kids

Examples of wither in a Sentence

The plants withered and died.
shortly after the moon landing, interest in the space program withered

Recent Examples of wither from the Web

But withering social satire actually is a linguistic art form.

— chris jones, chicagotribune.com, "'Barbecue' is a satire that puts us all over the coals," 29 Aug. 2017
Village officials are looking at reconstituting the watch program, which withered several years ago because turnout at meetings was so low, according to the chief.

— mike nolan, Daily Southtown, "FBI, other agencies assist in probe of Tinley Park home invasion," 16 Aug. 2017
Parker, 30, produced a withering video in response, debunking Breitbart's story point by point.

— ben adler, Marie Claire, "Meet Meteorologist Kait Parker: The Woman Debunking Fake News Surrounding Climate Change," 27 July 2017
En Vogue withered commercially without Dawn Robinson.

— chris martins, Billboard, "How Fifth Harmony Moved On and Took Control of Their Music: 'The Fans Are Our Fifth Member'," 13 July 2017
The founding fiction that slavery would die of its own accord or wither from the end of the international slave trade had faded.

— david waldstreicher, The Atlantic, "The Revival of John Quincy Adams," 11 July 2017
Having her menu ideas wither in the face of reality was just one of many learnings for Ruff.

— dana mcmahan, The Courier-Journal, "Two years after rocky start, Lydia House evolves as Germantown institution," 10 July 2017
There is a time of day in Alabama when the heat reaches its most critical point, when even shade is of little comfort; Sundays gathered all of God’s power to its most frightening pitch and beamed it down on us, testing us, daring us to wither.

— emily perper, Longreads, "Looking Back at Pride Month," 2 July 2017
Similarly, Hong Kong’s overall importance in the Chinese economy has withered.

— don lee, latimes.com, "Hong Kong was supposed to be a world financial capital in a communist system. Contradiction?," 30 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'wither.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of wither

Middle English widren; probably akin to Middle English weder weather

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

wither Synonyms

Synonyms

dry, wilt

Related Words

mummify, shrivel, wizen; decline, fade, wane; decrease, diminish, lessen

Near Antonyms

freshen, revive; bloom, flourish, prosper, thrive; develop, grow, increase, wax; crest, peak, surge

wither

noun

Definition of wither

chiefly British

:withers

Recent Examples of wither from the Web

But a no-haters rule looks misguided as the biggest and most valuable startup of this cycle, Uber, withers under the weight of its own toxic culture.

— erin griffith, Fortune, "How Venture Capitalists Got Away With Sexual Harassment," 21 July 2017
Indeed, in the spirited tradition of academic sport, where the gloves come off when citations are misattributed or a middle initial is misidentified, every theory of the Punic passage withers under a rebuttal.

— Smithsonian, "How (and Where) Did Hannibal Cross the Alps?," 28 June 2017
The question is how far those who cover the White House -- and the organizations that back those reporters -- are willing to push the envelope with a White House committed to ensuring the press briefing withers on the vine.

— chris cillizza, CNN, "62 seconds of Sean Spicer not answering why no cameras are allowed in the press briefing," 26 June 2017
Dozens of flights have been delayed and canceled out of Phoenix Sky Harbor on Tuesday as the city — and much of the region — withers under another day of excessively hot temperatures.

— david montero, latimes.com, "Extreme heat forces flight cancellations in Southwest. Mercury expected to hit 120 in Phoenix," 20 June 2017
Withers will lead the company’s East Region operations.

— peggy calhoun and david staats, idahostatesman, "Withers named Albertsons EVP of retail operations, St. Luke’s gives $10K to Girl Scouts," 9 May 2017
Setbacks can as easily stoke as sap, movements may grow as well as wither, and every critical mass has, of necessity, been built from a subcritical one.

— kathryn schulz, The New Yorker, "What Calling Congress Achieves," 6 Mar. 2017
Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get all the attention.

— New York Times, "Transcript of Obama’s 2016 State of the Union Address," 12 Jan. 2016