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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Wither \With"er\, verb (used without an object) [imp. & p. p. {Withered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Withering}.] [OE. wideren; probably the same word as wederen to weather (see {Weather}, v. & n.); or cf. G. verwittern to decay, to be weather-beaten, Lith. vysti to wither.]
1. To fade; to lose freshness; to become sapless; to become sapless; to dry or shrivel up.
Shall he hot pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? --Ezek. xvii. 9.
2. To lose or want animal moisture; to waste; to pin? away, as animal bodies.
This is man, old, wrinkled, faded, withered. --Shak.
There was a man which had his hand withered. --Matt. xii. 10.
Now warm in love, now with'ring in the grave. --Dryden.
3. To lose vigor or power; to languish; to pass away. ''Names that must not wither.'' --Byron.
States thrive or wither as moons wax and wane. --Cowper.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Wither \With"er\, verb (used with an object)
1. To cause to fade, and become dry.
The sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth. --James i. 11.
2. To cause to shrink, wrinkle, or decay, for want of animal moisture. ''Age can not {wither} her.'' --Shak.
Shot forth pernicious fire Among the accursed, that withered all their strength. --Milton.
3. To cause to languish, perish, or pass away; to blight; as, a reputation withered by calumny.
The passions and the cares that wither life. --Bryant.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
wither
verb
1: wither, especially with a loss of moisture; "The fruit dried and shriveled" [syn: {shrivel}, {shrivel up}, {shrink}]
2: lose freshness, vigor, or vitality; "Her bloom was fading" [syn: {fade}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
83 Moby Thesaurus words for "wither": Sanforize, age, air-dry, anhydrate, attenuate, bake, blot, brush, burn, cave in, cheat the undertaker, collapse, constrict, consume, contract, cure, decline, deflate, dehumidify, dehydrate, desiccate, diminish, dodder, drain, droop, dry, dry up, dwindle, emacerate, emaciate, evaporate, exsiccate, fade, fade away, fail, fire, flag, fold, get along, get on, grow old, insolate, kiln, languish, lose strength, macerate, mummify, mummy, parch, peak, pine, preshrink, rub, run down, scorch, sear, shake, shrink, shrivel, sink, smoke, soak up, sponge, sun, sun-dry, swab, thin, torrefy, totter, towel, turn gray, turn white, wane, waste, waste away, weaken, weazen, welter, wilt, wipe, wither away, wizen, wrinkle
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