different between shrivel vs whither

English

Etymology

First recorded as shriveled (“shrivelled”), probably of North Germanic origin related to dialectal Swedish skryvla (“to wrinkle, shrivel”); perhaps ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *skrinkwan? (“to shrivel, shrink”) or *skrimpan? (“to shrink”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: shr?'v?l, IPA^(key): /????v?l/
• Rhymes: -?v?l

Verb

shrivel (third-person singular simple present shrivels, present participle (UK) shrivelling or (US) shriveling, simple past and past participle (UK) shrivelled or (US) shriveled)

1. (intransitive) To collapse inward; to crumble.

   The plant shrivelled from lack of water.

2. (intransitive) To become wrinkled.

   His fingers were shriveled from being in the bath for too long.

3. (transitive) To draw into wrinkles.

   The hot sun shrivelled the leaves.

Derived terms

• shrivel up

Translations

References

English

Etymology

From Old English hwider, alteration of hwæder, from Proto-Germanic *hwadrê.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /???ð?/; enPR: hw?th??r
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???ð?/
• (in accents with the wine-whine merger) IPA^(key): /?w?ð?/, /?w?ð?/
• Rhymes: -?ð?(?)
• Homophone: wither (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Adverb

whither (not comparable)

1. (archaic, formal, poetic or literary) To what place.
   • 1885, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Penguin Red Classics, paperback edition, page 24

     And with the same grave countenance he hurried through his breakfast and drove to the police station, whither the body had been carried.

   • 1918, Willa Cather, My Antonia, Mirado Modern Classics, paperback edition, page 8

     The wagon jolted on, carrying me I knew not whither.

Usage notes

• This word is unusual in modern usage; (to) where is much more common. It is more often encountered in older works or when used poetically or jocularly.
• It is also sometimes used as a rhetorical device by journalists and other writers in headlines, with the meaning "What will the future bring for ..."
• Do not confuse with whether or wither.
• Compare to the inanimate pronoun "whereto" which follows the pattern of "preposition + what" or "preposition + which".

Antonyms

• whence

Derived terms

Related terms

• hither
• thither
• whithersoever

Translations

Verb

whither (third-person singular simple present whithers, present participle whithering, simple past and past participle whithered)

1. (intransitive, obsolete, dialectal) To wuther.