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WITCH
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A being (usually female) imagined to have special powers derived from the devil
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("witch" is a kind of...):
imaginary being; imaginary creature (a creature of the imagination; a person that exists only in legends or myths or fiction)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "witch"):
pythoness (a witch with powers of divination)
warlock (a male witch or demon)
Holonyms ("witch" is a member of...):
coven (an assembly of witches; usually 13 witches)
Derivation:
witch (cast a spell over someone or something; put a hex on someone or something)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A female sorcerer or magician
Synonyms:
enchantress; witch
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("witch" is a kind of...):
occultist (a believer in occultism; someone versed in the occult arts)
Derivation:
witch (cast a spell over someone or something; put a hex on someone or something)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An ugly evil-looking old woman
Synonyms:
beldam; beldame; crone; hag; witch
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("witch" is a kind of...):
old woman (a woman who is old)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A believer in Wicca
Synonyms:
Wiccan; witch
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("witch" is a kind of...):
pagan (a person who follows a polytheistic or pre-Christian religion (not a Christian or Muslim or Jew))
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Cast a spell over someone or something; put a hex on someone or something
Synonyms:
bewitch; enchant; glamour; hex; jinx; witch
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Hypernyms (to "witch" is one way to...):
becharm; charm (control by magic spells, as by practicing witchcraft)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "witch"):
voodoo (bewitch by or as if by a voodoo)
spell (place under a spell)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Derivation:
witch (a being (usually female) imagined to have special powers derived from the devil)
witch (a female sorcerer or magician)
witchery (the art of sorcery)
Context examples:
The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and in the evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night more.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
The old physicians took account of things which their followers do not accept, and the Professor is searching for witch and demon cures which may be useful to us later.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
He said I was a capricious witch, and that he would rather sing another time; but I averred that no time was like the present.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
And dropping a small, gilded bottle at the witch's feet, the spirit vanished.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
There were only four witches in all the Land of Oz, and two of them, those who live in the North and the South, are good witches.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
The witch fell into a passion, let him fall again into the well, and went away.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
In the records are such words as 'stregoica'—witch, 'ordog,' and 'pokol'—Satan and hell; and in one manuscript this very Dracula is spoken of as 'wampyr,' which we all understand too well.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
"What have you done with me, witch, sorceress? Who is in the room besides you? Have you plotted to drown me?"
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Therefore, to use the expressive, if not elegant, language of a schoolgirl, "He was as nervous as a witch and as cross as a bear".
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
"Blue is the color of the Munchkins, and white is the witch color. So we know you are a friendly witch."
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
