withers

See also: Withers

English

Etymology

From dialectal English wither (“against”) (compare wither-) +‎ -s; see with. So-named because it is the part of the horse that pushes against a load. Compare German Widerrist (“withers”), from wider (“against”) + Rist (“wrist”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪð.ɚz/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪð.əz/
• Hyphenation: with‧ers

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

withers pl (normally plural, singular wither)

1. The part of the back of a four-legged animal that is between the shoulder blades; in many species the highest point of the body and the standard place to measure the animal's height. [from 1580]

Usage notes

Even in the plural, this noun refers to one object. The synonymous singular, wither, is less common.

Hyponyms

• nape

Coordinate terms

• scruff

Derived terms

• fistulous withers
• wither-wrung
• wring one's withers

Translations

part of the back of a draft animal

• Catalan: creu (ca) f, creuera f
• Czech: kohoutek (cs) m
• Dutch: schoft (nl) c
• Finnish: säkä (fi)
• French: garrot (fr) m
• Galician: cernella f, agulla (gl) f, cruz (gl) f
• German: Widerrist (de) m
• Greek: ακρωμία f (akromía)
• Hungarian: mar (hu)
• Italian: garrese (it) m
• Malay: kelasa
• Polish: kłąb (pl) m
• Portuguese: cernelha (pt) f
• Russian: хо́лка (ru) f (xólka)
• Spanish: cruz (es) f
• Swedish: manke (sv) c
• Turkish: omuz (tr)
• Walloon: warot (wa) m
• Welsh: cudyn ysgwydd m

Further reading

• withers on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Verb

withers

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of wither

Anagrams

• swither, whister, wishter, writhes