withers

Meanings

Noun

• The part of the back of a four-legged animal that is between the shoulder blades; in many species the highest point of the body and the standard place to measure the animal's height.

Verb

• Third-person singular simple present indicative form of wither

Related

Narrower meaning words

• nape

Origin

• From dialectal English wither (compare wither-) -s; see with. So-named because it is the part of the horse that pushes against a load. Compare German Widerrist ("withers"), from wider + Rist.