Meaning of withers in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Noun
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /ˈwɪðərz/

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  1. Noun

    withers

    Etymology

    early 16th century: apparently a reduced form of widersome, from obsolete wither- ‘against, contrary’ (as the part that resists the strain of the collar) + a second element of obscure origin

    Definitions

    1. sensibility to trouble (as in the phrase `wring one's withers')

    Examples

    • « the lawsuit was wringing his withers »
    • « our withers are unwrung--Shakespeare »
  2. 2. the highest part of the back at the base of the neck of various animals especially draft animals

Famous quotes

  • « Living in an age of advertisement, we are perpetually disillusioned. The perfect life is spread before us every day, but it changes and withers at a touch. »
    J. B. Priestley
  • « Intelligence flourishes only in the ages when belief withers. »
    Emile M. Cioran
  • « The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration. »
    Pearl S. Buck
  • « Age is not all decay it is the ripening, the swelling, of the fresh life within, that withers and bursts the husk. »
    George MacDonald

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