withered hand
Desiccated grasping appendage
A withered hand is one that has atrophied or shrunk, losing its normal function—whether from disease, injury, or nerve damage.
The phrase appears memorably in the Gospels, where Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath.
Outside biblical contexts, it describes any hand that has become shriveled and weak: His withered hand could no longer grip the pen.
- shriveledContracted from moisture loss
- wasting awayGradual physical decline
- gnarledTwisted and knotty
- paralyzedUnable to move voluntarily
- atrophiedDeclined from underuse
nerve damage · crippled · palm · fingers · healing · faith healing · miracle · biblical · limp · twisted · useless · dry · skeletal · curled · feeble · old age · grip strength · stiff
- Biblical Afflictionsleprosy, blindness, boils, plagues, pestilence
- biblical miracleswalking on water, water into wine, raising Lazarus, calming the storm, loaves and fishes