withering

adj

1. Tending to destroy, devastate, overwhelm, or cause complete destruction.

   “The D-Day troops came under withering fire.”

   “Before the clearing had been half crossed the Arabs opened up a withering fire from behind the palisade.”

   “Shockingly, under such a withering combined barrage, the Japanese destroyer promptly exploded and sank in short order, before even having had a chance to unleash her Long Lances. First blood to the USN!”

2. Diminishing rapidly.

   “The playboy seemed oblivious to his withering fortune as he continued in his decadent lifestyle.”

   “Go—ask of nature in thy walk. The rose-bud, dying on its stalk, The fading grass—the withering tree, Are emblems of thy fate and thee.”

3. Tending to make someone feel small; scornful in a mortifying way.

   “Jane's mother in law gave her a withering look.”

   “He made withering remarks about his adversary.”

   “It is a very serious thing that there be Worlds and Suns, and yet most withering is the laughter of Māna-Yood-Sushāī. And when he arises from resting at the Last, and laughs at us for playing with Worlds and Suns, We will hastily put them behind us, and there shall be Worlds no more.”

   “The chief executives of Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook, four tech giants worth nearly $5 trillion combined, faced withering questions from Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike on Wednesday for the tactics and market dominance that had made their enterprises successful.”

verb

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present)present participle and gerund of wither

noun

1. The process by which something withers.

   “Spiritual witherings and decayings are opposite to the word of God.”

name

1. A surname.