perish
Americanverb (used without object)
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to die or be destroyed through violence, privation, etc..
to perish in an earthquake.
- Synonyms:
- expire
-
to pass away or disappear.
an age of elegance that has forever perished.
- Antonyms:
- appear
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to suffer destruction or ruin.
His valuable paintings perished in the fire.
-
to suffer spiritual death.
Save us, lest we perish.
idioms
verb
-
to be destroyed or die, esp in an untimely way
-
(tr sometimes followed by with or from) to cause to suffer
we were perished with cold
-
to rot
leather perishes if exposed to bad weather
-
may it never be or happen thus
noun
Synonym Usage
See die 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
has perishedperfect 3rd person singular
-
have perishedperfect
-
am perishingprogressive 1st person singular
-
is perishingprogressive 3rd person singular
-
have been perishingperfect progressive
-
has been perishingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
-
are perishingprogressive
-
perishingparticiple
-
perishessingular 3rd person
Past
-
had perishedperfect
-
was perishingprogressive singular
-
were perishingprogressive plural
-
had been perishingperfect progressive
-
perishedsimple
-
perishedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of perish
1200–50; Middle English perissen < Old French periss-, long stem of perir < Latin perīre to perish, literally, go through, spend fully, equivalent to per- per- + īre to go
Explanation
To perish means to die. Your brother's goldfish might perish if he forgets to feed it — so be sure to remind him that Goldie needs her dinner! Perish comes from a Latin verb that means "to pass away." Many passengers on the Titanic perished after the ship hit an iceberg. Perish can also be used figuratively, as when an op-ed argues that the idea of the American Dream perished in the 21st century. People also sometimes use this word simply to be dramatic. You might, for instance, tell your mom that you'll perish if you aren't allowed to spend the weekend at your best friend's house.
Vocabulary lists containing perish
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" (1863)
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Words for the High School Graduate
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The rest of the space, formerly known as staple music venue the Perish, has been left mostly untouched.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2023
Perish the thought of one of them going down and missing significant time.
From Washington Times • Oct. 19, 2017
In 2010, he published a book about his experiences in Pakistan, “To Live or to Perish Forever.”
From Washington Post • Aug. 3, 2011
Perish the notion of a little thing called consistent relevance.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 21, 2011
"Perish their homes of folly whose learning is all pretense, their colleges which never yielded a man of sense."
From Bahaism and Its Claims A Study of the Religion Promulgated by Baha Utlah and Abdul Baha by Wilson, Samuel Graham
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
