hither and thither

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To here and to there, one place after another

   To here and to there, one place after another; in different directions.

   • All alter, nothing finally decayes: / Hether and thether ſtill the Spirit ſtrayes; / Gueſt to all Bodies: out of beaſts it flyes / To men, from men to beaſts; and neuer dyes.
   • Noailles, Cogny and Company hang well back upon the Hill regions, and strong posts which are not yet menaced; or fly vaguely, more or less distractedly, hither and thither; not in the least like fighting Karl, much less like beating him.
   • Thou shalt read the hearts of men as an open writing, and hither and thither shalt thou lead them as thy pleasure listeth.
2. 2

   In a disorderly manner.

   • Presently, men were running hither and thither in all ways. The artillery booming, forward, rearward, and on the flanks made jumble of ideas of direction.
3. 3

   To move here and then there

   To move here and then there; to move in different directions.

   • I have been too long waiting for certainties; hithering''' and thithering being a condition under which I find it almost impossible to write, or indeed to do anything except fret myself to fiddlestrings.
   • Mr. C. [i.e., Thomas Carlyle] always hithers and thithers in a weary interminable way, before he can make up his mind what he would like most to do.

The neighborhood