DCHP-1 Online
withe ((n.)) † Lumbering, Hist. 
n. See 1854 quote.
See also: raft ((n.)) (def. 2, note, and picture) withe ((v.)) withing
- 1854 The cribs are lashed together by means of "withs"; these are formed by taking young birchen trees about the size of whip stalks and fastening their butts firmly, by means of wedges, into an auger hole bored into a stump, then commencing at the points and twisting them . . . until the whole of the fibre is separated and the twig becomes as pliant as a rope.
- 1945 Up to this time [1854], the withes had been softened for use by manpower, by rolling them on drums between pairs of six-foot wheels such as were used for steering the river-steamers.
- 1963 From the tough elastic nature of the withes and their being evenly and snugly tied, a really extraordinary strength was developed in the whole fabric of the bottom of the dram.
- 1854 The cribs are lashed together by means of "withs"; these are formed by taking young birchen trees about the size of whip stalks and fastening their butts firmly, by means of wedges, into an auger hole bored into a stump, then commencing at the points and twisting them . . . until the whole of the fibre is separated and the twig becomes as pliant as a rope.