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swither (SWITH-er) - n., a state of indecision or confusion, a flap, a fluster, a dither. v., to hesitate, vacillate, be perplexed, be confused; to move or swing about.
Dictionaries mark the noun as "chiefly UK dialect," especially northern England and Scotland, and the verb as "northern England and Scotland." Indeed, I've heard swither used as a noun in the States, usually in the set phrase "in a swither." I'm pretty sure I've never heard it as a verb, ever. The word is attested from 1501, origin unknown, but one dictionary suggests that Old English geswithrian, to retire/dwindle/fail, might be somehow related.
---L.
Dictionaries mark the noun as "chiefly UK dialect," especially northern England and Scotland, and the verb as "northern England and Scotland." Indeed, I've heard swither used as a noun in the States, usually in the set phrase "in a swither." I'm pretty sure I've never heard it as a verb, ever. The word is attested from 1501, origin unknown, but one dictionary suggests that Old English geswithrian, to retire/dwindle/fail, might be somehow related.
---L.
