famish
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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to suffer or cause to suffer extreme hunger; starve.
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to starve to death.
verb
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(now usually passive) to be or make very hungry or weak
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archaic to die or cause to die from starvation
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to make very cold
I was famished with the cold
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of famish
1350–1400; Middle English famisshe, equivalent to famen to starve (< Anglo-French, Middle French afamer < Vulgar Latin *affamāre, equivalent to Latin af- af- + famāre, derivative of famēs hunger) + -isshe -ish 2
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.
There are two military snobs, Rag and Famish.
From Thackeray by Trollope, Anthony
It was slep in the night afore last by the Honorable Capting Famish, of the Fiftieth Dragoons, whose Mar took him out, after a fortnight, jest to punish him, she said.
From Vanity Fair by Thackeray, William Makepeace
Rag, and the 'lurking' or raffish Military Snob, Ensign Famish.
From The Book of Snobs by Thackeray, William Makepeace
He has lately been playing a good deal with Famish.
From The Book of Snobs by Thackeray, William Makepeace
Rag lets Famish accompany him to Tattersall's, and sells him bargains in horse-flesh, and uses Famish's cab.
From The Book of Snobs by Thackeray, William Makepeace
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.
