Definify.com
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To grow dull; to be no longer active and vigorous.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.