wither

3 definitions • 4 examples

(to cause) to become weak and dry and decay:

Grass had withered in the fields.

to slowly disappear, lose importance, or become weaker:

This country is in danger of allowing its industrial base to wither away.

to become, or cause something to become, weak, dry, and smaller:

[ T ] Hot, dry weather withered the peanut crop in the southeast.

[ I ] fig. Public interest in the scandal will not wither away any time soon.