English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

wither +‎ -ing

Adjective[edit]

withering (comparative more withering, superlative most withering)

1. Tending to destroy, devastate, overwhelm, or cause complete destruction.

   The D-Day troops came under withering fire.

   • 2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 12:55 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN)‎^[1], archived from the original on 17 October 2022:

     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!

2. Diminishing rapidly.

   The playboy seemed oblivious to his withering fortune as he continued in his decadent lifestyle.

   • 1815, Lydia Sigourney, Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse, Procrastination, page 9:

     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.

3. 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.

   • 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC:

     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.

   • 2020 July 29, Cecilia Kang, David McCabe, “Lawmakers, United in Their Ire, Lash Out at Big Tech’s Leaders”, in New York Times‎^[2]:

     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.

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

withering

1. present participle and gerund of wither

Noun[edit]

withering (plural witherings)

1. The process by which something withers.
   • 1839, William Jenkyn, James Sherman, An Exposition Upon the Epistle of Jude, page 274:

     Spiritual witherings and decayings are opposite to the word of God.

Derived terms[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

• wrightine