Whither
adv, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A place to which someone or something goes; also, a condition to which someone or something moves. formal
"To knovv the local beginnings of vvinds, is a thing vvhich requires a deep ſearch and Inquiſition, ſeeing that the VVhence and VVhither of vvinds, are things noted even in Scripture to be abſtruſe and hidden."
- 2 A state of rushed action; a haste, a hurry; also, a state of anger or excitement. British, Scotland, dialectal, especially
- 3 A forceful blow or hit. British, Scotland, dialectal, especially
- 4 An act of shaking (vigorously); a shiver, a tremble; also, a slight bout of discomfort or illness. British, Scotland, dialectal, especially
- 5 The sound of something moving quickly; a rush, a whiz. British, Scotland, dialectal, especially
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- 6 A gust of wind; a bluster. British, Scotland, dialectal, especially
"I felt sure now that I was in the pensionnat—sure by the beating rain on the easement; sure by the ‘wuther’ of wind amongst trees, denoting a garden outside; sure by the chill, the whiteness, the solitude, amidst which I lay."
- 1 To cause (someone) to hurry; to hasten, to hurry. British, Scotland, dialectal, especially, transitive
- 2 To throw (something) forcefully; to hurl; also, to beat, to thrash. British, Scotland, dialectal, especially, transitive
- 3 To shake (vigorously); to tremble. British, Scotland, dialectal, especially, intransitive
- 4 To move quickly, to rush, to whiz; also, to make a rushing sound; to whizz. British, Scotland, dialectal, especially, intransitive
- 5 Of the wind: to blow loudly and vigorously; to bluster; also, of an animal, etc.: to make a loud noise; to bellow, to roar. British, Scotland, dialectal, especially, intransitive
- 1 Interrogative senses.; To what place; where. not-comparable
"Whither wilt thou wander, wayfarer?"
- 2 Interrogative senses.; To what (future) cause, condition or state, reason, etc.; where, where next; also (obsolete) to what extent; how far. also, figuratively, humorous, not-comparable
"VVhither at length vvilt thou abuſe our patience?"
- 3 Relative senses.; To which place; also (after a noun denoting a place) to which. not-comparable
"[W]e beſche thee, leaue vs not comfortles, but ſende to vs thine holy ghoſt to comfort vs, and exalte vs vnto thy ſame place, whither our ſauiour Chriſte is gone before: […]"
- 4 Relative senses.; To the place in or to which. not-comparable
"And with the same grave countenance he hurried through his breakfast and drove to the police station, whither the body had been carried."
- 5 Relative senses.; In or to any place to which; to whatever place; wherever. not-comparable
"Ah foole, goe vvith thy ſoule vvhither it goes, / A borrovved title haſt thou bought too deare."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"He wasn't certain in which direction he should go and he'd forgotten whither he was traveling and who he was."
Etymology
From Middle English whider (“to what place?; into or to which; to what place, where; no matter where, to wherever”), from Old English hwider, hwæder (“to what place, where”), from Proto-Germanic *hwadrê (“to what place, where”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷos (“what; which”), from *kʷ- (the primary interrogative root).
The verb is borrowed from Scots whidder, whither (“(of the wind) to bluster; to move quickly”), a frequentative form of whid (“(of wind) to gust; to move quickly”), of Scandinavian/North Germanic origin, from Old Norse hviða (“gust of wind”). Related to Middle English hwiþa, whyȝt (“breeze; wind”), Old English hwiþa, hwiþu, hweoþu (“breeze”). The noun is derived from the verb.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.