Languish — Lan guish, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Languished}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Languishing}.] [OE. languishen, languissen, F. languir, L. languere; cf. Gr. ? to slacken, ? slack, Icel. lakra to lag behind; prob. akin to E. lag, lax, and perh. to E. slack. See {… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Languish — Lan guish, n. See {Languishment}. [Obs. or Poetic] [1913 Webster] What, of death, too, That rids our dogs of languish? Shak. [1913 Webster] And the blue languish of soft Allia s eye. Pope. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
languish — UK US /ˈlæŋgwɪʃ/ verb [I] ► to be weak or fail to improve: »Traditional industries continue to languish or disappear … Financial and business terms
languish — [laŋ′gwish] vi. [ME languishen < extended stem of OFr languir < L languescere < languere, to be weary: see LANGUID] 1. to lose vigor or vitality; fail in health; become weak; droop 2. to live under distressing conditions; continue in a… … English World dictionary
Languish — Lan guish, v. i. To cause to droop or pine. [Obs.] Shak. Dryden. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
languish — (v.) early 14c., fail in strength, exhibit signs of approaching death, from languiss , prp. stem of O.Fr. languir be listless, pine, grieve, fall ill, from V.L. *languire, from L. languere be weak or faint (see LAX (Cf. lax)). Weaker sense be… … Etymology dictionary
languish — [v] droop; become dull, listless be disregarded, be neglected, brood, conk out*, decline, desire, despond, deteriorate, die on vine*, dwindle, ebb, fade, fag, fag out, fail, faint, fizzle out, flag, go soft*, go to pieces*, grieve, hanker, hunger … New thesaurus
languish — ► VERB 1) grow weak or feeble. 2) be kept in an unpleasant place or situation: he was languishing in jail. 3) archaic pine with love or grief. ORIGIN Old French languir, from Latin languere … English terms dictionary
languish — UK [ˈlæŋɡwɪʃ] / US verb [intransitive] Word forms languish : present tense I/you/we/they languish he/she/it languishes present participle languishing past tense languished past participle languished 1) to fail to be successful or to improve Oil… … English dictionary
languish — [[t]læ̱ŋgwɪʃ[/t]] languishes, languishing, languished 1) VERB If someone languishes somewhere, they are forced to remain and suffer in an unpleasant situation. [V prep/adv] Pollard continues to languish in prison... [V prep/adv] No one knows for… … English dictionary
