withe

Pluralwithes

Formswithes, withing, withed

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A slender, flexible shoot or twig, especially one used as a band or tie for binding.

   The farmer twisted a withe around the gate to hold it shut.

   Hurdle makers wove green withes between upright stakes.

   Similarwithy, osier, switch

   Note

   The oldest meaning in the family, and the one the etymology explains. Old English wiþe meant "cord, band, fetter," from a root meaning "to turn, wind, bend." A withe is useful because it bends without breaking, which is what lets a twig serve as rope. In Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1810), a door is secured by a withe twisted in its handle. Withy is a near twin, and winding is a synonym.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A band formed from several slender twigs twisted together, used for tying or binding.

   The thatcher secured the roof bundles with a stout withe.

   Medieval builders lashed scaffolding poles together with withes.

   Similarwithy, band, tie

   Note

   Here the twigs are already worked: several are twisted into one band, strong enough to tie with or to wear. The material is named with of, as in William Morris's line "a withe of willows was her only belt" from The Earthly Paradise (1870). Use the single flexible twig for the raw shoot, and this sense for the finished tie.

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To fasten or bind something using flexible twigs or withes.

   Villagers withe the hurdles together to make a temporary pen.

   He withed the faggots into tidy bundles for the fire.

   Similarbind, tie, lash

   Note

   The verb is regular: withes, withing, withed, with the final e dropped before -ing. The binding need not be done with twigs; James Fenimore Cooper's The Deerslayer has its hero "withed in bark." The verb pairs naturally with down and together: poles withed down to a frame, trees tightly withed and wedged together. Withed is also the past of the beating verb, so context decides which is meant.

4. 4
   noun

   Alternative spelling of wythe.

   A wall this old is rarely more than one withe thick.

   The mason checked that each withe lined up before mortaring.

   Note

   Masons measure wall thickness in this unit. A half-brick wall is a single withe, and a wall one brick thick is two withes. Before a noun the count is hyphenated: single-withe construction, multiple-withe walls. Multiple-withe walls include cavity walls and composite brick-block walls. The main spelling is wythe, which also names the partition between chimney flues.

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To strike or flog someone using flexible twigs or rods.

   The overseer threatened to withe any worker who slacked off.

   He withed the stubborn mule to drive it forward.

   Similarflog, whip, thrash, switch

   Note

   Here the switch is used for beating rather than binding, and the verb has the same forms as the binding verb. The -ing form easily becomes a noun for the punishment itself. Oren Frederic Morton's Winning or Losing? (1901) has "you'll get a withing." Richard Nye Price's Holston Methodism (1913) describes men "withing" a horse and then a rider around the shoulders.

6. 6
   noun

   Alternative spelling of wythe.

   A sound withe stops smoke from one fireplace drifting into another's flue.

   Inspectors check the withe whenever two flues share a chimney.

   Note

   Fire ordinances and building guides use the word for the wall inside a chimney that keeps one flue's smoke out of the next. Writers often explain it as they go, as in "a withe or division" or "a brick spacer (withe)." The partition is usually brick, but in hollow tile chimneys it may be tile. The spelling question is the same as for the brick-thick wall section.

7. 7
   nouncountable

   A flexible part of a tool's handle that absorbs the shock of blows and protects the hand.

   The mallet's withe took the worst of the impact away from his wrist.

   Craftsmen valued a handle whose withe spared their hands during long work.

8. 8
   nouncountable

   An iron fitting with a ring at the end of a mast or boom, through which another mast or boom is rigged out and secured.

   The crew rigged the studding-sail boom out through the withe.

   Each withe was inspected for rust before the ship set sail.

   Note

   Sailors kept the old idea of a band that holds but made it out of iron. Richard Henry Dana's The Seaman's Friend (1841) places a withe on the after part of a topgallant mast-head. A royal-mast is run up through it, with its heel resting on the topmast cap. The fitting does the job the twisted twig once did, fastening one spar to another, only in metal.

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