withe
Plural: withes
Noun
- band or rope made of twisted twigs or stems
- strong flexible twig
- A flexible, slender shoot or twig, especially when used as a band or for binding; a withy.
- A band of twisted twigs.
- An elastic handle to a tool to save the hand from the shock of blows.
- 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.
- Alternative spelling of wythe (“single section of bricks one unit thick”).
- Alternative spelling of wythe (“partition between flues in a chimney”).
Verb
Verb Forms: withed, withing, withes
- To bind or secure with flexible twigs or branches.
- To bind with withes.
- To beat with withes.
Examples
- He tried to WITHE his scattered letters into a coherent word, but failed.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English withe, withthe, from Old English wiþe, wiþþe (“cord, band, thong, fetter”), from Proto-Germanic *wiþiz, *wiþjǭ (“cord, rope”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéh₁itis (“that which twines”), from *weyt- (“that which winds or bends, branch, switch”), from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, wind, bend”). Cognate with Danish vidje (“wicker”), Swedish vidja (“withe, wicker, osier”), Icelandic við, viðja (“a withe”), Latin vītis (“vine”), Russian ветвь (vetvʹ, “branch, bough, limb”). Doublet of vice (“a type of tool, etc.”). The brickwork and chimney architecture senses may have a different etymology, see wythe.
Scrabble Score: 11
withe: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordwithe: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
withe: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary