a. [ AS. blīðe blithe, kind; akin to Goth. bleiþs kind, Icel. blīðr mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blīdi kind, blithe. ] Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful;
The blithe sounds of festal music. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]
A daughter fair,
So buxom, blithe, and debonair. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Gay; full of gayety; joyous. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. In a blithe manner. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. The state of being blithe. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. same as blather.
adj. talking incoherently;
a. Cheery; gay; merry. [ 1913 Webster ]
The blithesome sounds of wassail gay. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]
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‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr.
v. t. & i. [ Icel hl&ymacr_;ða. See Listen. ] To listen or listen to; to hearken to. [ Obs. ] P. Plowman. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. [ AS. līðe, for linðe tender, mild, gentle; akin to G. lind, gelind, OHG. lindi, Icel. linr, L. lenis soft, mild, lentus flexible, and AS. linnan to yield. Cf. Lenient. ]
v. t. [ AS. līðian. See Lithe, a. ] To smooth; to soften; to palliate. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. In a lithe, pliant, or flexible manner. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. The quality or state of being lithe; flexibility; limberness. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. [ AS. l&ymacr_;ðer bad, wicked. ] Bad; wicked; false; worthless; slothful. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
Not lither in business, fervent in spirit. Bp. Woolton. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ Professor Skeat thinks “ the lither sky” as found in Shakespeare's Henry VI. ((Part I. IV. VII., 21) means the stagnant or pestilential sky.
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a. Crafty; cunning; mischievous; wicked; treacherous; lazy. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]
He [ the dwarf ] was waspish, arch, and litherly. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. [ See Lithe, a., and cf. Lissom. ] Pliant; limber; flexible; supple; nimble; lissom. [ 1913 Webster ]
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v. i. [ Cf. G. schlittern, LG. schliddern. See slide. ] To slide; to glide. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]