pl.n.
The high part of the back of a horse or similar animal, located between the shoulder blades.
[Possibly from obsolete wither-, against (from the strain exerted on them when a horse draws a load), from Middle English, from Old English.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
