swither

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈswɪðə/
• Rhymes: -ɪðə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

From Middle English *swithren, from Old Norse sviðra (“to burn, singe”). Related to Middle English swithen (“to burn, scorch, singe”), from Old Norse svíða (“to burn”).

Alternative forms

• swether, swidder

Verb

swither (third-person singular simple present swithers, present participle swithering, simple past and past participle swithered)

1. (dialectal) To burn, scorch, singe.
2. (dialectal) To burn slowly, melt (as a candle), sweal
3. (dialectal, figurative) To smart, ache; tingle

Noun

swither (countable and uncountable, plural swithers)

1. (dialectal) A great heat; a scorching, singeing
2. (dialectal) Sweating.

Etymology 2

First attested in 1501; of unknown origin.

Verb

swither (third-person singular simple present swithers, present participle swithering, simple past and past participle swithered)

1. (Scotland, Northern England) To be indecisive or in a state of confusion; to dither.
2. To move or swing about.
   • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 51:

     He was filling his pipe, staring at his picture, not her, and this tacit dismissal allowed her to sidle over to the bank higher up, and there swither her legs about in the water before coming out of it.

Noun

swither (plural swithers)

1. (chiefly Scotland, Northern England) A state of indecision or confusion; a panicked state; a flap, fluster, or dither.
   • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 49:

     Bradly came bristling to the lagoon the following afternoon, in a swither of alarm and expectation.

Anagrams

• Withers, whister, wishter, withers, writhes

Scots

Etymology

First attested in 1501; of unknown origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈswɪðər/

Verb

swither (third-person singular simple present swithers, present participle switherin, simple past and past participle swithert)

1. to be indecisive, to dither, to hesitate.
2. to doubt, to be doubtful, to fear.
3. to fail, to falter, to waver.

Noun

swither (plural swithers)

1. doubt, hesitation.
2. a state of wavering.
3. a fright.