Sample Sentences for
wither
grouped by contextual meaning
(editor-reviewed)

wither as in: wither on the vine

Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
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    Without water, the plants in the garden began to wither and die.
    wither = shrivel (wrinkled as they dried out)
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    His lips were cracked and felt as if they were bleeding and if he did not drink some water soon he felt that he would wither up and die.  (source)
    wither = dry out
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    If Beatty so much as breathed on them, Montag felt that his hands might wither, turn over on their sides, and never be shocked to life again; they would be buried the rest of his life in his coat sleeves, forgotten.  (source)
    wither = weaken, and get smaller
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Show 10 more with 7 word variations
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    It looks dreadfully withered,  (source)
    withered = weakened
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    Only the crest of the Giant's face was still visible, and it was white bone, like limestone protruding from a discouraged, withering mountain.  (source)
    withering = shriveling (deteriorating)
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    Soon he would set all the shoreland woods ablaze and wither every field and pasture.  (source)
    wither = dry the life out of
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    The Pallid Wreath Somehow I cannot let it go yet, funeral though it is, Let it remain back there on its nail suspended, With pink, blue, yellow, all blanch'd, and the white now gray and ashy, One wither'd rose put years ago for thee, dear friend; But I do not forget thee.†  (source)
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    HERMIONE looks witheringly at RON: RON takes the hit.†  (source)
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    In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.†  (source)
    standard suffix: Today, the suffix "-eth" is replaced by "-s", so that where they said "She withereth" in older English, today we say "She withers."
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    Faces still fresh and unwithered (for senility galloped so hard that it had no time to age the cheeks—only the heart and brain) turned as they passed.†  (source)
    standard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unwithered means not and reverses the meaning of withered. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
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    Because Morrie sat in the wheelchair, the camera never caught his withered legs.  (source)
    withered = shriveled (shrunken and weakened)
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    He could see Meo's garden patch, weedy but still with the mark of Meo's hand upon it, withering in the searing heat.  (source)
    withering = drying out
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    I know from experience that some things will thrive and others will wither.†  (source)
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wither as in: her confidence withered

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    As the disease progressed, her once strong muscles began to wither and she struggled to even lift a glass of water.
    wither = weaken
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    And yet, each would wither in my arms the very night of their birth.  (source)
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    All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost.  (source)
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Show 10 more with 5 word variations
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    Your body will wither and die, and still the Oracle's spirit will be locked inside you.  (source)
    wither = weaken
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    He then dropped on me a withering two-syllable "duh."  (source)
    withering = weakening the spirit, or humiliating
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    My fury was gone, I felt it gone, dried up at the source, withered and lifeless.  (source)
    withered = weakened
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    One withers, another grows.  (source)
    withers = becomes weaker
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    May the Shire live for ever unwithered!  (source)
    unwithered = not weakened
    standard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unwithered means not and reverses the meaning of withered. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
  • •
    The war touched the Model Press Clipping Bureau with its mailed finger and made it wither away.  (source)
    wither = weaken and become smaller until it disappeared
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    Perks sat down heavily in the elbow-chair and looked at them with what Bobbie afterwards described as withering glances of gloomy despair.  (source)
    withering = making the spirit weaker
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    But months after my 18th birthday, the recession hit, gas prices shot up, my savings withered and the reality of going nowhere fast hit me in the face.  (source)
    withered = shrank
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    Now, away from that ocean, in the confines of a hospital bed, his body began to wither like a beached fish.  (source)
    wither = weaken
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    It was absolute misery to come back into the withering coldness.  (source)
    withering = causing weakness
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meaning too rare to warrant focus

Show 3 with this contextual meaning
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    "A lot of nonsense," Mr. Patch-Withers grumbled.  (source)
    Withers = proper noun
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    And I know where Mirkwood is, and the Withered Heath where the great dragons bred.  (source)
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    Send in Corporal Withers and four soldiers, at once.  (source)
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    Mrs. Patch-Withers' glance then happened to fall on his belt.  (source)
    Withers = proper noun
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    Corporal Withers obeyed instantly, pausing only to say, "Yes sir, General Harrison."  (source)
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    Mr. Patch-Withers' laughter surprised us all, including himself.  (source)
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    What a pompous-- But Harrison was talking to Withers again, and looking at Hooch as he did so.  (source)
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    Patch-Withers was pretty gassy, and his wife, and …  (source)
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    It wasn't thirty seconds before the soldiers were there, Corporal Withers saluting and saying, "Yes, sir, General Harrison."  (source)
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    It was held in the deserted Headmaster's house, and Mr. Patch-Withers' wife trembled at every cup tinkle.  (source)
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    It got worse, though, and he cussed again when Withers marched him right across the stockade, stark naked, and didn't give him so much as a blanket when he locked him into a storage room.  (source)
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    When the sternest of the Summer Sessions Masters, old Mr. Patch-Withers, came up to him after history class and asked about it, I watched his drawn but pink face become pinker with amusement as Finny politely explained the meaning of the shirt.  (source)
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    In the afternoon Mr. Patch-Withers, who was substitute Headmaster for the summer, offered the traditional term tea to the Upper Middle class.  (source)
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