whither
Americanadverb
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to what place? where?
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to what end, point, action, or the like? to what?
conjunction
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to which place.
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to whatever place.
adverb
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to what place?
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to what end or purpose?
conjunction
Etymology
Origin of whither
First recorded before 900; Middle English, variant of Middle English whider, hwider, hwither, Old English hwider, hwyder, alteration of hwæder (cognate with Gothic hwadrē “whither”), modeled on hider hither
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Amid all of this gushing from Kurt, one question looms large: Whither Jane?
From Washington Post • Dec. 2, 2020
Whither their cruelty, their decadence, their way of life?
From The New Yorker • Jun. 22, 2018
Whither MOOCs — the massive open online courses that promised to vastly scale up access to higher education?
From Nature • Aug. 15, 2017
Slime "oozed into the mainstream and remained on top for half a decade. Then, as quickly as it came to us, prime slime time slipped away. Whither all that goo?"
From Slate • Jul. 18, 2016
"It is a mighty joke, is it not? Whither thou goest, there I must go. Even if it kills me."
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
