athirst

American  

[uh-thurst] / əˈθɜrst /

adjective

1. having a keen desire; eager (often followed byfor ).

   She has long been athirst for European travel.

2. Archaic. thirsty.

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athirst British  

/ əˈθɜːst /

adjective

1. (often foll by for) having an eager desire; longing

2. archaic thirsty

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Etymology

Origin of athirst

before 1000; Middle English athurst, ofthurst, Old English ofthyrst, past participle of ofthyrstan. See a- ², thirst

Example Sentences

Athirst and unfed shall they be, When the springs of thy strength are dust, And thy fields of light are black with dearth.

From The Star-Treader and other poems by Smith, Clark Ashton

Athirst and affrightened he fled from the star-wrought waters of Kishon.

From Song-Surf by Rice, Cale Young

It was the good ship Billycock, with thirteen men aboard, Athirst to grapple with their country's foes,— A crew, 'twill be admitted, not numerically fitted To navigate a battleship in prose.

From Modern British Poetry by Untermeyer, Louis

Athirst, ashamèd, he yieldeth his breath, While one looks down from his charger; and calm slow smiling,   Curleth his lip.

From Poems by Jean Ingelow, In Two Volumes, Volume II. by Ingelow, Jean

Here by my hearth where he was I listen For the shade of the sound of a word, Athirst for the birdlike eyes to glisten, For the tongue to chirp like a bird.

From A Dark Month From Swinburne's Collected Poetical Works Vol. V by Swinburne, Algernon Charles