Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To cause to endure severe hunger.
- intransitive verb To cause to starve to death.
- intransitive verb To endure severe deprivation, especially of food.
- intransitive verb To undergo starvation and die.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To deprive of nourishment; keep or cause to be insufficiently supplied with food or drink; starve; destroy, exhaust, or distress with hunger or thirst.
- To suffer extreme hunger or thirst; be exhausted through want of food or drink; suffer extremity by deprivation of any necessary.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To starve, kill, or destroy with hunger.
- transitive verb To exhaust the strength or endurance of, by hunger; to distress with hanger.
- transitive verb To kill, or to cause to suffer extremity, by deprivation or denial of anything necessary.
- transitive verb To force or constrain by famine.
- intransitive verb To die of hunger; to starve.
- intransitive verb To suffer extreme hunger or thirst, so as to be exhausted in strength, or to come near to perish.
- intransitive verb To suffer extremity from deprivation of anything essential or necessary.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb obsolete, transitive To
starve (to death); to kill or destroy withhunger . - verb transitive To
exhaust the strength or endurance of, by hunger; to distress with hunger. - verb transitive To kill, or to cause to suffer extremity, by
deprivation or denial of anythingnecessary . - verb transitive To force or constrain by
famine . - verb intransitive To die of hunger; to starve.
- verb intransitive To suffer extreme hunger or thirst, so as to be exhausted in strength, or to come near to perish.
- verb intransitive To suffer extremity from deprivation of anything essential or necessary.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb die of food deprivation
- verb deprive of food
- verb be hungry; go without food
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word famish.
Examples
-
In the first scene, the First Citizen describes the Senate the 1% of ancient Rome: They ne'er cared for us yet: suffer us to famish, and their storehouses crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act established against the rich, and provide more piercing statutes daily to chain up and restrain the poor.
-
But, til then, here he will stay, and neither quit the spot whence he sends you these lines, till you have deigned to pronounce verbally his doom, though he should famish for want of food!
Camilla 2008
-
March 16, 2008 at 4:36 pm iz u teh famish “magnificat n D”?
Ninja - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008
-
For since thy good works, not thy goods will follow thee; since riches are an appurtenance of life, and no dead man is rich, to famish in plenty, and live poorly to die rich, were
Letter to a Friend 2007
-
Lazarus lies howling at his gates for a few crumbs, he only seeks chippings, offals; let him roar and howl, famish, and eat his own flesh, he respects him not.
-
The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.
-
The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.
-
You are all resolved rather to die than to famish?
-
Fie on ambition! fie on myself, that have a sword, and yet am ready to famish!
-
He welcomed me, on the contrary, with a joy that was evidently to a certain extent artificial and dictated by politeness, but was also sincere, prompted both by his stomach which so long a delay had begun to famish, and his consciousness of
The Guermantes Way 2003
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.