Also 8 wether. [f. WITHER v.2]
† 1. A disease of cows. Obs.
1652. W. Poole, Country Farrier, 48. A Cow that hath the Wither.
a. 1722. Lisle, Observ. Husb. (1757), 294. The wether that comes forth either before or after calving.
[Cf. 1750. Ellis, Cy. Housewife, 359. That fatal Malady that some call Withering, that is to say, her Bearing comes out behind.]
2. Tea-manuf. The process of withering (see WITHER v.2 4 c).
1897. D. Crole, Tea, vii. 114. Should … the weather not be propitious for a natural wither, none of this leaf would be ready for rolling.
1903. C. Bald, Indian Tea, xv. (1917), 225. Leaf is ready for rolling when it has become absolutely soft and flaccid, without being in any sense dried up [marg. Good wither].
Wither sb.3, occas. sing. of WITHERS.
