wilting
part of speech
verb form (wilt, wilts, wilted, wilting); adjective (wilting)
meaning for a pupil
1) Drooping and going soft because of not enough water, too much heat, or being picked: a wilting flower bends and its leaves hang down. tree →
2) (of a person) Getting tired, weak or less lively, especially in heat: «The children were wilting in the sun.» tree →
3) Losing confidence or energy: «Her smile was wilting.» tree →
sense in the lessons
In science lessons wilting shows that plants need water: water pushes against plant cells and keeps them stiff; without it the plant goes floppy. If watered in time, a wilting plant can perk up again. In stories a wilting flower can stand for sadness or something ending. Phrases: «wilting in the heat», «wilting flowers».
examples
- The sunflowers were wilting because we forgot to water them. tree →
- After an hour in the heat, the football team was wilting. tree →
- The lettuce in the fridge drawer was wilting. tree →
- We watered the wilting basil and it stood up again by evening. tree →
- The bunch of roses had been wilting for days. tree →
- In our experiment, the plant without water started wilting first. tree →
- By the last lap I was wilting like an old daisy. tree →
note
Base verb «wilt»; past «wilted». «Wilt» is also an old Bible form of «will» with «thou» («thou wilt»), a different word. Wilting is not dying yet: a wilted plant can often recover. Opposite: perk up, revive.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «wilting» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.