Withers
['wɪðəz] or ['wɪðɚz]
Definition
(noun.) the highest part of the back at the base of the neck of various animals especially draft animals.
Checked by Edwin--From WordNet
Definition
(prep.) The ridge between the shoulder bones of a horse, at the base of the neck. See Illust. of Horse.
Typed by Connie
Definition
n.pl. the ridge between the shoulder-bones of a horse and behind the root of the neck.—adj. With′er-wrung injured in the withers.
Typist: Sam
Examples
- The tender plant is produced; but in so cold a soil, and so severe a climate, soon withers and dies. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The big gray was sweating and shivering a little and Robert Jordan patted him on the withers. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Riding close to him I reached down from the saddle, and grasping his cartridge belt drew him up across the withers of my mount. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- Everything withers in the bud. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- And it withers my consciousness, somehow, it burns the pith of my mind. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Sent to a schoolmaster, refuses to tell his letters, and the schoolmaster going to whip him, his hand withers. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
Checked by Giselle