withy
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]withy (comparative withier, superlative withiest)
- (archaic) Flexible, like a withe.
- 1693, “Of the Embrasures or Merlons”, in Abel Swall, transl., The New Method of Fortification, as Practised by Monsieur de Vauban, Engineer General of France. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Abell Swall; […], →OCLC, book IV, page 75:
- The Merlons, to the end that they may be good, ought to be made of Earth, the most eaſie to be tempered that may be: And this Earth ought alſo to be mixed with Withy Twigs, or Brambles, provided they take Root, after which they are to be lined with good Turff.
- 2018, Madeline Miller, Circe, Little, Brown and Company, page 285:
- I would work at my spells from dawn until dusk, dig up roots and forget to eat, harvest the withy stems and weave baskets till they piled to the ceiling.
Synonyms
[edit]Noun
[edit]withy (plural withies)
- An osier (Salix viminalis), a type of willow.
- A long flexible twig of the osier; a withe.
- 1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros[1], London: Jonathan Cape, page 17:
- In the midst of the meadow was a space marked out with withies sixty paces either way for the wrastling ground.
Synonyms
[edit]- (osier): willow
Translations
[edit]osier — see osier
long, flexible twig of the osier — see osier