hunger

American  

[huhng-ger] / ˈhʌŋ gər /

noun

1. a compelling need or desire for food.

2. the painful sensation or state of weakness caused by the need of food.

   to collapse from hunger.

3. a shortage of food; famine.

4. a strong or compelling desire or craving.

   hunger for power.

   Synonyms:

   itch , lust , greed , appetite

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verb (used without object)

1. to feel hunger; be hungry.

2. to have a strong desire.

verb (used with object)

1. Rare.  to subject to hunger; starve.

idioms

1. from hunger,  deplorably bad; dreadful: Also strictly from hunger.

   The styles in coats this winter are from hunger.

hunger British  

/ ˈhʌŋɡə /

noun

1. a feeling of pain, emptiness, or weakness induced by lack of food

2. an appetite, desire, need, or craving

   hunger for a woman

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verb

1. to have or cause to have a need or craving for food

2. (intr; usually foll by for or after) to have a great appetite or desire (for)

Other Word Forms

• half-hungered adjective
• hungeringly adverb
• prehunger noun

Etymology

Origin of hunger

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hungor; cognate with German Hunger

Example Sentences

"I never feel, or very rarely feel, that urgent hunger that I used to."

From BBC

There is a hunger and desire to win every game.

From BBC

“I just tell patients to be careful if you do this and remember the hunger and food noise will come back,” she says, which could lead to overeating.

From The Wall Street Journal

He focused on AI, a field where peer-reviewed research is still in its infancy and the hunger for data is insatiable.

From The Wall Street Journal

Experts are predicting that world hunger is poised to get worse.

From Salon

Related Words

• craving
• desire
• famine
• greed
• longing
• lust
• starvation
• yearning