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wilt

/wɪlt/·verb

to droop and go limp from lack of water or energy
Fig. 1 — The tulip in the glass was upright at breakfast.
01Definition

To wilt is to go limp for want of water: the pressure that keeps a plant's cells firm drops away, and stiffness is the first thing to leave. Stems soften, leaves hang, the flower's head nods — nothing has dried or died yet; the tissue is all still there, just unable to hold itself up. That is the word's precise value: the reversible, drooping stage before any real damage is done. People wilt too — in heat, in long meetings — sagging visibly while remaining entirely alive.

02In use
  • iThe lettuce wilted within an hour of being left out of the fridge.
  • iiBy the final week of the campaign, even the most energetic volunteers had begun to wilt.
  • iiiCut roses wilt fast in a warm room unless the water is changed daily.
03Collocations
  • wilt in the heat
  • begin to wilt
  • wilted lettuce
  • wilting flowers
  • wilt under pressure

Family wilted (adjective) · wilting (adjective)

04Relations

=droop, sag, flag, wither, shrivel

≠revive, flourish, freshen

06TOEFL & IELTS

The exam value is the fine line it draws: wilt is to droop from water loss — soft, still alive, still rescuable — where wither is to dry up and die back. In IELTS Speaking about weather or gardens, wilt is the natural everyday verb (the flowers wilted in the heatwave). Figuratively, to wilt under pressure or under scrutiny — to lose energy and confidence when challenged — is a high-value collocation for sport, exams and politics. Recipes also wilt spinach on purpose: brief heat until it goes limp, a sense worth recognising in listening.

07Asked
Why do plants wilt?
Because plants stand up on water pressure. Their cells stay rigid the way a freshly pumped tyre does — botanists call it turgor — and when water runs short the pressure drops and the softest parts fold first: leaves, then stems, then the flower's head. That is exactly what the tulip in the scene above is doing, and why it straightens again once the glass is topped up.
Can a wilted plant recover?
Usually, and often within hours: water refills the cells, pressure returns, and the plant stands back up. Botanists only speak of a permanent wilting point when the soil is so dry that no recovery follows watering. Some midday wilting in strong sun is even normal self-protection — leaves droop to catch less light — and fixes itself by evening.
What does 'wilt under pressure' mean?
To lose energy, nerve or resistance exactly when tested — a team wilts under pressure in the final minutes; a witness wilts under cross-examination. The metaphor borrows the plant's collapse of posture rather than any lasting damage, which is why it suits temporary failures of nerve rather than permanent defeat. Sports and exam contexts use it constantly.
What does it mean to wilt spinach?
In cooking, to wilt greens is to heat them just until they go limp — spinach dropped into a hot pan collapses in under a minute, keeping its colour and most of its bite. Recipes use the verb deliberately: 'wilted' promises barely-cooked softness, several stops short of boiled. The plant's failure state, borrowed as a technique.
Does 'wilt' mean 'will' in old English?
In archaic and biblical English, wilt is simply the old second-person form of will: 'thou wilt find', 'if thou wilt'. It has nothing to do with drooping — the two wilts are spelt and sounded alike but come from different roots — and it is everywhere in Shakespeare and the King James Bible, so readers of older texts should file both meanings.
Is 'wilted' an adjective?
Yes — wilted lettuce, wilted flowers, a wilted salad: the participle works as an everyday adjective meaning gone limp. Wilting also modifies nouns ('the wilting heat' — heat that makes things wilt). Neither implies dead: for that, English reaches for withered, the next stage on — wilted and withered sit on either side of that fine line between limp and lifeless.