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Webster 1913 Edition
Languish
Lan′guish
,Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Languished
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Languishing
.] [OE.
languishen
, languissen
, F. languir
, L. languere
; cf. Gr. [GREEK] to slacken, [GREEK] slack, Icel. lakra
to lag behind; prob. akin to E. lag
, lax
, and perh. to E. slack
. See -ish
.] 1.
To become languid or weak; to lose strength or animation; to be or become dull, feeble or spiritless; to pine away; to linger in a weak or deteriorating condition; to wither or fade.
We . . . do
languish
of such diseases. 2 Esdras viii. 31.
Cease, fond nature, cease thy strife,
And let me
And let me
languish
into life. Pope.
For the fields of Heshbon
languish
. Is. xvi. 8.
Syn. – To pine; wither; fade; droop; faint.
Lan′guish
,Verb.
I.
To cause to droop or pine.
[Obs.]
Shak.
Dryden.
Lan′guish
,Noun.
See
Languishment
. [Obs. or Poetic]
What, of death, too,
That rids our dogs of
That rids our dogs of
languish
? Shakespeare
And the blue
languish
of soft Allia’s eye. Pope.
Webster 1828 Edition
Languish
LAN'GUISH
,Verb.
I.
1.
To lose strength or animation; to be or become dull, feeble or spiritless; to pine; to be or to grow heavy. We languish under disease or after excessive exertion.She that hath borne seven languisheth. Jer. 15.
2.
To wither; to fade; to lose the vegetating power.For the fields of Heshbon languisheth. Jer. 15.
3.
To grow dull; to be no longer active and vigorous. The war languished for want of supplies. Commerce, agriculture, manufactures languish, not for want of money, but for want of good markets.4.
To pine or sink under sorrow or any continued passion; as, a woman languishes for the loss of her lover.Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish. Hosea 4.
5.
To look with softness or tenderness, as with the head reclined and a peculiar cast of the eye.LAN'GUISH
,Verb.
T.
LAN'GUISH
,Noun.
And the blue languish of soft Allia's eye.
Definition 2024
languish
languish
English
Verb
languish (third-person singular simple present languishes, present participle languishing, simple past and past participle languished)
- (intransitive) To lose strength and become weak; to be in a state of weakness or sickness. [from 14th c.]
- Bible, 2 Esdras viii. 31
- We […] do languish of such diseases.
- Bible, 2 Esdras viii. 31
- (intransitive) To pine away in longing for something; to have low spirits, especially from lovesickness. [from 14th c.]
- He languished without his girlfriend
- (intransitive) To live in miserable or disheartening conditions. [from 15th c.]
- He languished in prison for years
- (intransitive) To be neglected; to make little progress, be unsuccessful. [from 17th c.]
- The case languished for years before coming to trial.
- (transitive, obsolete) To make weak; to weaken, devastate. [15th-17th c.]
- (intransitive, now rare) To affect a languid air, especially disingenuously. [from 18th c.]
- 1815, Jane Austen, Emma
- He is an excellent young man, and will suit Harriet exactly: it will be an "exactly so," as he says himself; but he does sigh and languish, and study for compliments rather more than I could endure as a principal.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Tennyson to this entry?)
- 1815, Jane Austen, Emma
Related terms
Translations
to lose strength and become weak
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to pine away with longing
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to live in miserable conditions
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to be neglected, to make little progress
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