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Webster 1913 Edition

With

With

,
Noun.
See
Withe
.

With

,
p
rep.
[OE.
with
, AS.
wi[GREEK]
with, against; akin to AS.
wi[GREEK]er
against, OFries.
with
, OS.
wi[GREEK]
,
wi[GREEK]ar
, D.
weder
,
weêr
(in comp.), G.
wider
against,
wieder
gain, OHG.
widar
again, against, Icel.
vi[GREEK]
against, with, by, at, Sw.
vid
at, by, Dan.
ved
, Goth.
wipra
against, Skr.
vi
asunder. Cf.
Withdraw
,
Withers
,
Withstand
.]
With denotes or expresses some situation or relation of nearness, proximity, association, connection, or the like.
It is used especially: –
1.
To denote a close or direct relation of opposition or hostility; – equivalent to against.
Thy servant will . . . fight
with
this Philistine.
1 Sam. xvii. 32.
☞ In this sense, common in Old English, it is now obsolete except in a few compounds; as, withhold; withstand; and after the verbs fight, contend, struggle, and the like.
2.
To denote association in respect of situation or environment; hence, among; in the company of.
I will buy
with
you, talk
with
you, walk
with
you, and so following; but I will not eat
with
you, drink
with
you, nor pray
with
you.
Shakespeare
Pity your own, or pity our estate,
Nor twist our fortunes
with
your sinking fate.
Dryden.
See where on earth the flowery glories lie;
With
her they flourished, and
with
her they die.
Pope.
There is no living
with
thee nor without thee.
Tatler.
Such arguments had invincible force
with
those pagan philosophers.
Addison.
3.
To denote a connection of friendship, support, alliance, assistance, countenance, etc.; hence, on the side of.
Fear not, for I am
with
thee, and will bless thee.
Gen. xxvi. 24.
4.
To denote the accomplishment of cause, means, instrument, etc; – sometimes equivalent to by.
That
with
these fowls I be all to-rent.
Chaucer.
Thou wilt be like a lover presently,
And tire the hearer
with
a book of words.
Shakespeare
[He] entertained a coffeehouse
with
the following narrative.
Addison.
With
receiving your friends within and amusing them without, you lead a good, pleasant, bustling life of it.
Goldsmith.
5.
To denote association in thought, as for comparison or contrast.
Can blazing carbuncles
with
her compare.
Sandys.
6.
To denote simultaneous happening, or immediate succession or consequence.
With
that she told me . . . that she would hide no truth from me.
Sir P. Sidney.
With
her they flourished, and
with
her they die.
Pope.
With
this he pointed to his face.
Dryden.
7.
To denote having as a possession or an appendage;
as, the firmament
with
its stars; a bride
with
a large fortune
.
“A maid with clean hands.”
Shak.
☞ With and by are closely allied in many of their uses, and it is not easy to lay down a rule by which to distinguish their uses. See the Note under
By
.

Webster 1828 Edition

With

WITH

, prep. [G.]
1.
By, noting cause, instrument or means. We are distressed with pain; we are elevated with joy. With study men become learned and respectable. Fire is extinguished with water.
2.
On the side of, noting friendship or favor.
Fear not, for I am with thee. Genesis 26.
3.
In opposition to; in competition or contest; as, to struggle with adversity. The champions fought with each other an hour. He will lie with any man living.
4.
Noting comparison. The fact you mention compares well with another I have witnessed.
5.
In company. The gentlemen traveled with me from Boston to Philadelphia.
6.
In the society of. There is no living with such neighbors.
7.
In connection, or in appendage. He gave me the Bible, and with it the warmest expressions of affection.
8.
In mutual dealing or intercourse.
I will buy with you, sell with you--
9.
Noting confidence. I will trust you with the secret.
10.
In partnership. He shares the profits with the other partners. I will share with you the pleasures and the pains.
11.
Noting connection.
Nor twist our fortunes with your sinking fate.
12.
Immediately after.
With this he pointed to his face.
13.
Among. I left the assembly with the last.
Tragedy was originally with the ancients a piece of religious worship.
14.
Upon.
Such arguments had invincible force with those pagan philosophers.
15.
In consent, noting parity of state.
See! Where on earth the flowry glories lie, with her they flourishd, and with her thy die.
With and by are closely allied in many of their uses, and it is not easy to lay down a rule by which their uses may be distinguished. It is observed by Johnson that with seems rather to denote an instrument, and by a cause; as, he killed an enemy with a sword, but he died by an arrow. But this rule is not always observed.
With, in composition, signifies for the most part opposition, privation; or separation, departure.

Definition 2024

with

with

See also: wiþ, wið, with-, wiþ-, and wįð

English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

preconsonantal, final
  • (Australia, US) IPA(key): /wɪð/, /wɪθ/
  • (New Zealand) IPA(key): /wɘð/, /wɘθ/
  • Rhymes: -ɪθ, -ɪð,
  • (UK) IPA(key): /wɪð/
  • Rhymes: -ɪð
prevocalic
  • (Australia, UK, US) IPA(key): /wɪð/
  • (US, also) IPA(key): /wɪθ/
  • Rhymes: -ɪð, -ɪθ

Preposition

with

  1. Against.
    • 1621, John Smith, The Proceedings of the English Colony in Virginia
      Many hatchets, knives, & pieces of iron, & brass, we see, which they reported to have from the Sasquesahanocks a mighty people, and mortal enemies with the Massawomecks.
    He picked a fight with the class bully.‎
  2. In the company of; alongside, along side of; close to; near to.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or […] . And at last I began to realize in my harassed soul that all elusion was futile, and to take such holidays as I could get, when he was off with a girl, in a spirit of thankfulness.
    He went with his friends.‎
  3. In addition to; as an accessory to.
    She owns a motorcycle with a sidecar.‎
  4. Used to indicate simultaneous happening, or immediate succession or consequence.
    • 1590, Sir Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia,
      With that she told me that though she spake of her father, whom she named Chremes, she would hide no truth from me: ...
    • 1697, Virgil, John Dryden (translator), Aeneid, in The Works of Virgil,
      With this he pointed to his face, and show'd
      His hand and all his habit smear'd with blood.
    • 1861, Alexander Pope, The Rev. George Gilfillan (editor) The Fourth Pastoral, or Daphne, in The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope,
      See where, on earth, the flowery glories lie,
      With her they flourish'd, and with her they die.
    • 1994, Stephen Fry, The Hippopotamus Chapter 2
      With a bolt of fright he remembered that there was no bathroom in the Hobhouse Room. He leapt along the corridor in a panic, stopping by the long-case clock at the end where he flattened himself against the wall.
    • 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 48:
      The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing", […] and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.
  5. In support of.
    • 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 72-3:
      Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.
    We are with you all the way.‎
  6. (obsolete) To denote the accomplishment of cause, means, instrument, etc; – sometimes equivalent to by.
    • 1300s?, Political, Religious and Love Poems, “An A B C Poem on the Passion of Christ”, ed. Frederick James Furnivall, 1866
      Al þus with iewys I am dyth, I seme a wyrm to manus syth.
    • c1388, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Legend of Good Women, Balade, 266
      Ysiphile, betrayed with Jasoun, / Maketh of your trouthe neyther boost ne soun;
    • 1610, William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale, Act V, V-ii
      He was torn to / pieces with a bear:
    • 1669, Nathaniel Morton, New England’s Memorial
      He was sick and lame of the scurvy, so as he could but lie in the cabin-door, and give direction, and, it should seem, was badly assisted either with mate or mariners
    • 1721, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry (page 61)
      But several sowing of Wheat at that time, because 'twas the usual time of doing of it, it lay in the Ground till Rain came, which was the latter end of October first, and then but part of it came up neither, because it was mustied and spoiled with lying so long in the Ground […]
    slain with robbers‎
  7. Using as an instrument; by means of.
    • 1430?, “The Love of Jesus” in Hymns to the Virgin and Christ, ed. Frederick James Furnivall, 1867, p.26
      Þirle my soule with þi spere anoon,
    • 1619, Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, A King and no King, Act IV
      you have paid me equal, Heavens, / And sent my own rod to correct me with
    • 1620, William Bradford. Of Plymouth Plantation
      They had cut of his head upon the cudy of his boat had not the man reskued him with a sword,
    • 1677, William Wycherley, The plain-dealer, Prologue
      And keep each other company in spite, / As rivals in your common mistress, fame, / And with faint praises one another damn;
    • 2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:
      As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels.
    cut with a knife‎
  8. (obsolete) Using as nourishment; more recently replaced by on.
  9. Having, owning.
Quotations
  • For usage examples of this term, see Citations:with.
Derived terms
Synonyms
Antonyms
Translations

Adverb

with ‎(not comparable)

  1. (Midwestern US) along, together with others/group etc.
    Do you want to come with?

Etymology 2

Noun

with ‎(plural withs)

  1. Alternative form of withe
    • King James Bible
      And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: was · he · his · #11: with · is · it · for

Anagrams

Old Saxon

Etymology

A shortened form of withar (against), cognate with Old English wiþ ‎(“against, opposite, toward”) and wiþer.

Preposition

with

  1. against, with, toward
    • Uuesat iu so uuara uuiðar thiu, uuið iro fēcneon dādiun, sō man uuiðar fīundun scal‎
      Be careful against them, against their dreadful actions, just like one must be (careful) against his enemies
      (Heliand, verse 1883)

Related terms

Etymology

From Middle English with, from Old English wiþ ‎(“against, opposite, toward”), a shortened form of wiþer, from Proto-Germanic *wiþr- ‎(“against”), from Proto-Indo-European *wi-tero- ‎(“more apart”); from Proto-Indo-European *wi ‎(“separation”). Cognate with Old Frisian with ‎(“against, again”), Old Saxon with ‎(“against, again”), Dutch weder ‎(“again”) and weer ‎(“again, opposite”), Low German wedder ‎(“again, against, opposite”), German wider ‎(“against”) and wieder ‎(“again”), Danish ved ‎(“by, near, with”), Swedish vid ‎(“by, next to, with”). In Middle English, the word shifted to denote association rather than opposition, displacing Middle English mid ‎(“with”), from Old English mid ‎(“with”), which is cognate to Old-Frisian mith ‎(“with”), Modern Frisian mei ‎(“with”), Old Norse með ‎(“with”), Icelandic með ‎(“with”), Dutch met ‎(“with”) and German mit ‎(“with”).

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