Wit transitive verb & i. [ inf. (To) Wit ; present sing. Wot ; plural Wite ; imperfect Wist(e) ; past participle Wist ; present participle & verbal noun Wit(t)ing . See the Note below.] [ Middle English witen , present ich wot , wat , I know (wot), imperfect wiste , Anglo-Saxon witan , present wāt , imperfect wiste , wisse ; akin to OFries. wita , Old Saxon witan , Dutch weten , German wissen , Old High German wizzan , Icelandic vita , Swedish veta , Danish vide , Goth. witan to observe, wait I know, Russian vidiete to see, Latin videre , Greek ..., Sanskrit vid to know, learn; confer Sanskrit vid to find. ............. Confer History , Idea , Idol , -oid , Twit , Veda , Vision , Wise , adjective & noun , Wot .] To know; to learn. "I wot and wist alway." Chaucer.

» The present tense was inflected as follows; sing. 1st pers. wot ; 2d pers. wost , or wot(t)est ; 3d pers. wot , or wot(t)eth ; plural witen , or wite . The following variant forms also occur; present sing. 1st & 3d pers. wat , woot ; present plural wyten , or wyte , weete , wote , wot ; imperfect wuste (Southern dialect); present participle wotting . Later, other variant or corrupt forms are found, as, in Shakespeare, 3d pers. sing. present wots .

Brethren, we do you to wit [ make you to know] of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia.

2 Cor. viii. 1.

Thou wost full little what thou meanest.

Chaucer.

We witen not what thing we prayen here.

Chaucer.

When that the sooth in wist .

Chaucer.

» This verb is now used only in the infinitive, to wit , which is employed, especially in legal language, to call attention to a particular thing, or to a more particular specification of what has preceded, and is equivalent to namely , that is to say .

Wit noun [ Anglo-Saxon witt , wit ; akin to OFries. wit , German witz , Old High German wizzī , Icelandic vit , Danish vid , Swedish vett . √133. See Wit , v. ]

1. Mind; intellect; understanding; sense.

Who knew the wit of the Lord? or who was his counselor?

Wyclif (Rom. xi. 34).

A prince most prudent, of an excellent
And unmatched wit and judgment.

Shak.

Will puts in practice what wit deviseth.

Sir J. Davies.

He wants not wit the dander to decline.

Dryden.

2. A mental faculty, or power of the mind; -- used in this sense chiefly in the plural, and in certain phrases; as, to lose one's wits ; at one's wits' end, and the like. "Men's wittes ben so dull." Chaucer.

I will stare him out of his wits .

Shak.

3. Felicitous association of objects not usually connected, so as to produce a pleasant surprise; also. the power of readily combining objects in such a manner.

The definition of wit is only this, that it is a propriety of thoughts and words; or, in other terms, thoughts and words elegantly adapted to the subject.

Dryden.

Wit which discovers partial likeness hidden in general diversity.

Coleridge.

Wit lying most in the assemblage of ideas, and putting those together with quickness and variety wherein can be found any resemblance or congruity, thereby to make up pleasant pictures in the fancy.

Locke.

4. A person of eminent sense or knowledge; a man of genius, fancy, or humor; one distinguished for bright or amusing sayings, for repartee, and the like.

In Athens, where books and wits were ever busier than in any other part of Greece, I find but only two sorts of writings which the magistrate cared to take notice of; those either blasphemous and atheistical, or libelous.

Milton.

Intemperate wits will spare neither friend nor foe.

L'Estrange.

A wit herself, Amelia weds a wit .

Young.

The five wits , the five senses; also, sometimes, the five qualities or faculties, common wit , imagination , fantasy , estimation , and memory . Chaucer. Nares.

But my five wits nor my five senses can
Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee.

Shak.

Syn. -- Ingenuity; humor; satire; sarcasm; irony; burlesque. -- Wit , Humor . Wit primarily meant mind; and now denotes the power of seizing on some thought or occurrence, and, by a sudden turn, presenting it under aspects wholly new and unexpected -- apparently natural and admissible, if not perfectly just, and bearing on the subject, or the parties concerned, with a laughable keenness and force. "What I want," said a pompous orator, aiming at his antagonist, "is common sense." " Exactly !" was the whispered reply. The pleasure we find in wit arises from the ingenuity of the turn, the sudden surprise it brings, and the patness of its application to the case, in the new and ludicrous relations thus flashed upon the view. Humor is a quality more congenial to the English mind than wit . It consists primarily in taking up the peculiarities of a humorist (or eccentric person) and drawing them out, as Addison did those of Sir Roger de Coverley, so that we enjoy a hearty, good-natured laugh at his unconscious manifestation of whims and oddities. From this original sense the term has been widened to embrace other sources of kindly mirth of the same general character. In a well-known caricature of English reserve, an Oxford student is represented as standing on the brink of a river, greatly agitated at the sight of a drowning man before him, and crying out, "O that I had been introduced to this gentleman, that I might save his life! The, "Silent Woman" of Ben Jonson is one of the most humorous productions, in the original sense of the term, which we have in our language.

Wit-cracker noun One who breaks jests; a joker. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Witan noun plural [ Anglo-Saxon , plural of wita sage, councilor.] Lit., wise men; specif. (A.-S. Hist.) , the members of the national, or king's, council which sat to assist the king in administrative and judicial matters; also, the council.

Witch noun [ Confer Wick of a lamp.] A cone of paper which is placed in a vessel of lard or other fat, and used as a taper. [ Prov. Eng.]

Witch noun [ Middle English wicche , Anglo-Saxon wicce , fem., wicca , masc.; perhaps the same word as Anglo-Saxon wītiga , wītga , a soothsayer (cf. Wiseacre ); confer Fries. wikke , a witch, LG. wikken to predict, Icelandic vitki a wizard, vitka to bewitch.]

1. One who practices the black art, or magic; one regarded as possessing supernatural or magical power by compact with an evil spirit, esp. with the Devil; a sorcerer or sorceress; -- now applied chiefly or only to women, but formerly used of men as well.

There was a man in that city whose name was Simon, a witch .

Wyclif (Acts viii. 9).

He can not abide the old woman of Brentford; he swears she's a witch .

Shak.

2. An ugly old woman; a hag. Shak.

3. One who exercises more than common power of attraction; a charming or bewitching person; also, one given to mischief; - - said especially of a woman or child. [ Colloq.]

4. (Geom.) A certain curve of the third order, described by Maria Agnesi under the name versiera .

5. (Zoology) The stormy petrel.

Witch balls , a name applied to the interwoven rolling masses of the stems of herbs, which are driven by the winds over the steppes of Tartary. Confer Tumbleweed . Maunder (Treas. of Bot.) -- Witches' besoms (Botany) , tufted and distorted branches of the silver fir, caused by the attack of some fungus. Maunder (Treas. of Bot.) -- Witches' butter (Botany) , a name of several gelatinous cryptogamous plants, as Nostoc commune , and Exidia glandulosa . See Nostoc . -- Witch grass (Botany) , a kind of grass ( Panicum capillare ) with minute spikelets on long, slender pedicels forming a light, open panicle. -- Witch meal (Botany) , vegetable sulphur. See under Vegetable .

Witch transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Witched ; present participle & verbal noun Witching .] [ Anglo-Saxon wiccian .] To bewitch; to fascinate; to enchant.

[ I 'll] witch sweet ladies with my words and looks.

Shak.

Whether within us or without
The spell of this illusion be
That witches us to hear and see.

Lowell.

Witch-elm noun (Botany) See Wych-elm .

Witch-hazel noun [ See Wych-elm , and Hazel .] (Botany) The wych-elm. (b) An American shrub or small tree ( Hamamelis Virginica ), which blossoms late in autumn.

Witch-tree noun (Botany) The witch-hazel.

Witchcraft noun [ Anglo-Saxon wiccecræft .]

1. The practices or art of witches; sorcery; enchantments; intercourse with evil spirits.

2. Power more than natural; irresistible influence.

He hath a witchcraft
Over the king in 's tongue.

Shak.

Witchery noun ; plural Witcheries
1. Sorcery; enchantment; witchcraft.

Great Comus,
Deep skilled in all his mother's witcheries .

Milton.

A woman infamous . . . for witcheries .

Sir W. Scott.

2. Fascination; irresistible influence; enchantment.

He never felt
The witchery of the soft blue sky.

Wordsworth.

The dear, dear witchery of song.

Bryant.

Witching adjective That witches or enchants; suited to enchantment or witchcraft; bewitching. "The very witching time of night." Shak. -- Witch"ing*ly , adverb

Witchuck noun (Zoology) The sand martin, or bank swallow. [ Prov. Eng.]

Witcraft noun
1. Art or skill of the mind; contrivance; invention; wit. [ Obsolete] Camden.

2. The art of reasoning; logic. [ R.]

Wite transitive verb [ Anglo-Saxon wītan ; akin to Dutch wijten , G. ver weisen , Icelandic vīta to mulct, and English wit ; confer Anglo-Saxon wītan to see, Latin animad vertere to observe, to punish. ............. See Wit , v. ] To reproach; to blame; to censure; also, to impute as blame. [ Obsolete or Scot.] Spenser.

Though that I be jealous, wite me not.

Chaucer.

There if that I misspeak or say,
Wite it the ale of Southwark, I you pray.

Chaucer.

Wite noun [ Anglo-Saxon wīte punishment. ............. See Wite , v. ] Blame; reproach. [ Obsolete or Scot.] Chaucer.

Witeless adjective Blameless. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Witen obsolete pl. present of Wit . Chaucer.

Witenagemote noun [ Anglo-Saxon witena gemōt an assembly of the wise; wita a wise man + gemōt assembly.] (AS. Hist.) A meeting of wise men; the national council, or legislature, of England in the days of the Anglo-Saxons, before the Norman Conquest.

Witfish noun (Zoology) The ladyfish (a) .

Witful adjective Wise; sensible. [ R.] Chapman.

With noun See Withe .

With preposition [ Middle English with , Anglo-Saxon wi... with, against; akin to Anglo-Saxon wi...er against, OFries. with , Old Saxon wi... , wi...ar , Dutch weder , weêr (in comp.), German wider against, wieder gain, Old High German widar again, against, Icelandic vi... against, with, by, at, Swedish vid at, by, Danish ved , Goth. wipra against, Sanskrit vi asunder. Confer Withdraw , Withers , Withstand .] With denotes or expresses some situation or relation of nearness, proximity, association, connection, or the like. It is used especially: --

1. To denote a close or direct relation of opposition or hostility; -- equivalent to against .

Thy servant will . . . fight with this Philistine.

1 Sam. xvii. 32.

» In this sense, common in Old English, it is now obsolete except in a few compounds; as, with hold; with stand; and after the verbs fight , contend , struggle , and the like.

2. To denote association in respect of situation or environment; hence, among; in the company of.

I will buy with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following; but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you.

Shak.

Pity your own, or pity our estate,
Nor twist our fortunes with your sinking fate.

Dryden.

See where on earth the flowery glories lie;
With her they flourished, and with her they die.

Pope.

There is no living with thee nor without thee.

Tatler.

Such arguments had invincible force with those pagan philosophers.

Addison.

3. To denote a connection of friendship, support, alliance, assistance, countenance, etc.; hence, on the side of.

Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee.

Gen. xxvi. 24.

4. To denote the accomplishment of cause, means, instrument, etc; -- sometimes equivalent to by .

That with these fowls I be all to-rent.

Chaucer.

Thou wilt be like a lover presently,
And tire the hearer with a book of words.

Shak.

[ He] entertained a coffeehouse with the following narrative.

Addison.

With receiving your friends within and amusing them without, you lead a good, pleasant, bustling life of it.

Goldsmith.

5. To denote association in thought, as for comparison or contrast.

Can blazing carbuncles with her compare.

Sandys.

6. To denote simultaneous happening, or immediate succession or consequence.

With that she told me . . . that she would hide no truth from me.

Sir P. Sidney.

With her they flourished, and with her they die.

Pope.

With this he pointed to his face.

Dryden.

7. To denote having as a possession or an appendage; as, the firmament with its stars; a bride with a large fortune. "A maid with clean hands." Shak.

» With and by are closely allied in many of their uses, and it is not easy to lay down a rule by which to distinguish their uses. See the Note under By .

Withal adverb [ With + all .]

1. With this; with that. [ Obsolete]

He will scarce be pleased withal .

Shak.

2. Together with this; likewise; at the same time; in addition; also. [ Archaic]

Fy on possession
But if a man be virtuous withal .

Chaucer.

If you choose that, then I am yours withal .

Shak.

How modest in exception, and withal
How terrible in constant resolution.

Shak.

Withal preposition With; -- put after its object, at the end of sentence or clause in which it stands. [ Obsolete]

This diamond he greets your wife withal .

Shak.

Whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal .

Lev. v. 3.

Withamite (wĭ&thlig;" a m*īt) noun [ From its discoverer, H. Witham .] (Min.) A variety of epidote, of a reddish color, found in Scotland.

Withdraw (wĭ&thlig;*dra") transitive verb [ imperfect Withdrew (-dru"); past participle Withdrawn (-dran"); present participle & verbal noun Withdrawing .] [ With against + draw. ]
1. To take back or away, as what has been bestowed or enjoyed; to draw back; to cause to move away or retire; as, to withdraw aid, favor, capital, or the like.

Impossible it is that God should withdraw his presence from anything.

Hooker.

2. To take back; to recall or retract; as, to withdraw false charges.

Withdraw intransitive verb To retire; to retreat; to quit a company or place; to go away; as, he withdrew from the company. "When the sea withdrew ." King Horn.

Syn. -- To recede; retrograde; go back.

Withdrawal noun The act of withdrawing; withdrawment; retreat; retraction. Fielding.

Withdrawer noun One who withdraws; one who takes back, or retracts.

Withdrawing-room noun [ See Withdraw , and confer Drawing-room .] A room for retirement from another room, as from a dining room; a drawing-room.

A door in the middle leading to a parlor and withdrawing- room .

Sir W. Scott.

Withdrawment noun The act of withdrawing; withdrawal. W. Belsham.

Withe noun [ Middle English withe . ............. See Withy , noun ] [ Written also with .]

1. A flexible, slender twig or branch used as a band; a willow or osier twig; a withy.

2. A band consisting of a twig twisted.

3. (Nautical) An iron attachment on one end of a mast or boom, with a ring, through which another mast or boom is rigged out and secured; a wythe. R. H. Dana, Jr.

4. (Architecture) A partition between flues in a chimney.

Withe transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Withed ; present participle & verbal noun Withing .] To bind or fasten with withes.

You shall see him withed , and haltered, and staked, and baited to death.

Bp. Hall.

Withe-rod noun (Botany) A North American shrub ( Viburnum nudum ) whose tough osierlike shoots are sometimes used for binding sheaves.

Wither intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Withered ; present participle & verbal noun Withering .] [ Middle English wideren ; probably the same word as wederen to weather (see Weather , v. & noun ); or confer German verwittern to decay, to be weather- beaten, Lithuanian 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.

Wither transitive verb
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.

Wither-wrung adjective Injured or hurt in the withers, as a horse.

Witherband noun [ Withers + band .] (Far.) A piece of iron in a saddle near a horse's withers, to strengthen the bow.

Withered adjective Faded; dried up; shriveled; wilted; wasted; wasted away. -- With"ered*ness , noun Bp. Hall.

Withering adjective Tending to wither; causing to shrink or fade. -- With"er*ing*ly , adverb

Witherite noun [ So called after Dr. W. Withering .] (Min.) Barium carbonate occurring in white or gray six-sided twin crystals, and also in columnar or granular masses.

Witherling noun [ Wither + - ling .] A withered person; one who is decrepit. [ Obsolete] Chapman.

Withernam noun [ Anglo-Saxon wiðernām ; wiðer against + nām a seizure, from niman to take.] (Law) A second or reciprocal distress of other goods in lieu of goods which were taken by a first distress and have been eloigned; a taking by way of reprisal; -- chiefly used in the expression capias in withernam , which is the name of a writ used in connection with the action of replevin (sometimes called a writ of reprisal ), which issues to a defendant in replevin when he has obtained judgment for a return of the chattels replevied, and fails to obtain them on the writ of return . Blackstone.

Withers noun plural [ Properly, the parts which resist the pull or strain in drawing a load; from Middle English wither resistance, Anglo-Saxon wiðre , from wiðer against; akin to German wider rist withers. See With , preposition ] The ridge between the shoulder bones of a horse, at the base of the neck. See Illust. of Horse .

Let the galled jade wince; our withers are unwrung.

Shak.

Withhold transitive verb [ imperfect Withheld ; past participle Withheld , Obsolete or Archaic Withholden ; present participle & verbal noun Withholding .] [ With again, against, back + hold .]

1. To hold back; to restrain; to keep from action.

Withhold , O sovereign prince, your hasty hand
From knitting league with him.

Spenser.

2. To retain; to keep back; not to grant; as, to withhold assent to a proposition.

Forbid who will, none shall from me withhold
Longer thy offered good.

Milton.

3. To keep; to maintain; to retain. [ Obsolete]

To withhold it the more easily in heart.

Chaucer.

Withholder noun One who withholds.

Withholdment noun The act of withholding.