swither
/ˈswɪðə
/Scottish
verb [no object]
Be uncertain as to which course of action to choose: Leonard swithered as to whether he should enter the arts or commerce...
- It's like the MMR jab, people were swithering whether to go ahead with it.
- So, I'm swithering at the moment about whether I will realistically be able to give up the alcohol.
- On the day she saw the GP, Del Veneziano was still swithering.
noun [in singular]
A state of uncertainty.It's an exhilarating poem with its paradoxical guarantee of risk: there is nothing as vacillating here as a ‘swither’ and it is none the worse for it....
- I pursued my journey to Fulton, and laughed heartily to think what a swither I had left poor Job in.
- They found the office in a "swither," as Harry said, over the revelations of fraud that were coming to light every day.
Origin
Early 16th century: of unknown origin.