withering en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈwɪðəɹɪŋ/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From wither + -ing.
Meanings
-
Tending to destroy, devastate, overwhelm, or cause complete destruction.
The D-Day troops came under withering fire.
Shockingly, under such a withering combined barrage, the Japanese destroyer promptly exploded and sank in short order, before even having had a chance to unleash her Long Lances. First blood to the USN!
2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 12:55 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN), archived from the original on 17 Oct 2022:Before the clearing had been half crossed the Arabs opened up a withering fire from behind the palisade.
1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 135:
-
Diminishing rapidly.
Go—ask of nature in thy walk. The rose-bud, dying on its stalk, The fading grass—the withering tree, Are emblems of thy fate and thee.
1815, Lydia Sigourney, Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse, Procrastination, page 9:The playboy seemed oblivious to his withering fortune as he continued in his decadent lifestyle.
-
Tending to make someone feel small; scornful in a mortifying way.
Jane's mother in law gave her a withering look.
He made withering remarks about his adversary.
It is a very serious thing that there be Worlds and Suns, and yet most withering is the laughter of Māna-Yood-Sushāī. And when he arises from resting at the Last, and laughs at us for playing with Worlds and Suns, We will hastily put them behind us, and there shall be Worlds no more.
1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC:The chief executives of Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook, four tech giants worth nearly $5 trillion combined, faced withering questions from Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike on Wednesday for the tactics and market dominance that had made their enterprises successful.
2020 July 29, Cecilia Kang, David McCabe, “Lawmakers, United in Their Ire, Lash Out at Big Tech’s Leaders”, in New York Times:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more withering | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most withering | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (16)
fi kuihtuva (diminishing rapidly) · fi musertava (tending to destroy, devastate, overwhelm or cause complete destruction) · de vernichtend (tending to destroy, devastate, overwhelm or cause complete destruction) · de alleszerstörend (tending to destroy, devastate, overwhelm or cause complete destruction) · de dahinschwindend (diminishing rapidly) · de verächtlich (tending to make someone feel small) · de schwindend (diminishing rapidly) · nl verbleken (diminishing rapidly) · nl verleppen (diminishing rapidly) · fi murskaava (tending to destroy, devastate, overwhelm or cause complete destruction) · de vernichtend (tending to make someone feel small) · de zerstörerisch (tending to destroy, devastate, overwhelm or cause complete destruction) · nl overweldigend (tending to destroy, devastate, overwhelm or cause complete destruction) · nl vernietigend (tending to destroy, devastate, overwhelm or cause complete destruction) · nl iemand het zwijgen opleggen (tending to make someone feel small) · fi vähättelevä (tending to make someone feel small)