withers

/ˈwɪð.ɚz/

//ˈwɪð.ɚz// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"withers" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“withers” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #29,892. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#29,892
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
10
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The part of the back of a four-legged animal that is between the shoulder blades; in many species the highest point of the body and the standard place to measure the animal's height.

Corpus desk

Index EN-withers · withers · English

withers · rank #29,892 · 11 variants · 10 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #29,892
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH wrongfully

Nearest frequency peer: wrongfully (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “withers”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “withers” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

withers vs writers
71% similar
withers vs witness
71% similar
withers vs waters
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for withers
PropertyValue
Headwordwithers
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈwɪð.ɚz/
Letters7
Frequency rank#29,892
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “withers”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).witherslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “wrongfully” (#29,893), “yanked” (#29,894), “weighting” (#29,889). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “withers” is #29,892. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around withers (IPA /ˈwɪð.ɚz/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #29,892 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Dominant gloss: "The part of the back of a four-legged animal that is between the shoulder blades; in many species the highest point of the body and the standard place to measure the animal's height.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for withers, with forms such as "iwthers", "wihters", and "witehrs". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "writers", "witness", "waters", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From dialectal English wither (“against”) (compare wither-) + -s; see with. So-named because it is the part of the horse that pushes against a load. Compare German Widerrist (“withers”), from wider (“against”) + Rist (“wrist”). The correct English form is withers, spelled W-I-T-H-E-R-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The part of the back of a four-legged animal that is between the shoulder blades; in many species the highest point of the body and the standard place to measure the animal's height.

Etymology

From dialectal English wither (“against”) (compare wither-) + -s; see with. So-named because it is the part of the horse that pushes against a load. Compare German Widerrist (“withers”), from wider (“against”) + Rist (“wrist”).

This word in other languages

cruz(Español)garrot(Français)Widerrist(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • iwthers
  • wihters
  • witehrs
  • witherrs
  • witherss
  • withesr
  • withhers
  • withres
  • witthers
  • wtihers
  • wwithers

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of withers - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

iwthers2wihters2witehrs2witherrs1witherss1withesr2withhers1withres2
Edit distance from "withers"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "withers"?
"withers" is spelled W-I-T-H-E-R-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈwɪð.ɚz/.
What does "withers" mean?
As a noun, "withers" means: The part of the back of a four-legged animal that is between the shoulder blades; in many species the highest point of the body and the standard place to measure the animal's height.
What words are commonly confused with "withers"?
"withers" is commonly confused with "writers", "witness", "waters". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "withers"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "withers" is /ˈwɪð.ɚz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "withers"?
From dialectal English wither (“against”) (compare wither-) + -s; see with. So-named because it is the part of the horse that pushes against a load. Compare German Widerrist (“withers”), from wider (“against”) + Rist (“wrist”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "withers", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ugliest#29,870Antonia#29,916Ashford#29,919atrophy#29,921

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

anaconda11 variantsstillness11 variantsshingle11 variantsShankar11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list