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starve
[ stahrv ]
verb (used without object)
- to die or perish from lack of food or nourishment.
- to be in the process of perishing or suffering severely from hunger.
- to suffer from extreme poverty and need.
- to feel a strong need or desire:
The child was starving for affection.
- Chiefly British Dialect. to perish or suffer extremely from cold.
- Obsolete. to die.
verb (used with object)
- to cause to starve; kill, weaken, or reduce by lack of food.
- to subdue, or force to some condition or action, by hunger:
to starve a besieged garrison into a surrender.
- to cause to suffer for lack of something needed or craved.
- Chiefly British Dialect. to cause to perish, or to suffer extremely, from cold.
starve
/ stɑːv /
verb
- to die or cause to die from lack of food
- to deprive (a person or animal) or (of a person, etc) to be deprived of food
- informal.intr to be very hungry
- foll byof or for to deprive or be deprived (of something necessary), esp so as to cause suffering or malfunctioning
the engine was starved of fuel
- trfoll byinto to bring (to) a specified condition by starving
to starve someone into submission
- archaic.to be or cause to be extremely cold
Derived Forms
- ˈstarver, noun
Other Words From
- half-starved adjective
- half-starving adjective
- self-starved adjective
- un·starved adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of starve1
Word History and Origins
Origin of starve1
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
She starves herself and practices until she aches and bleeds, but nothing is ever quite enough, especially when a new foe transfers to Nina’s company and threatens her spot.
Campaigners warn that agricultural and sewage pollution combined with the impacts of climate change have led to algal blooms, starving wildlife of oxygen.
Rhapsodizing about condiments to a ship of starving workers, Ylfa may as well bleat, “Let them eat ketchup!”
In addition to starving the children, she kept them in separate parts of the home.
Make no mistake: The starving of Social Security’s administrative resources, which is currently taking place under the guise of ferreting out fraud and waste, is no accident.
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