Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Wither

Wither , intransitive verb

[Old English wideren; probably the same word as wederen to weather (see Weather, v. & n.); or compare 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{not transcribed} away, as animal bodies.
This is man, old, wrinkled, faded, withered. — Shakespeare
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. — Shakespeare
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