starvation

American  

[stahr-vey-shuhn] / stɑrˈveɪ ʃən /

noun

• starvations
  plural

1. the act or state of starving; condition of being starved.

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adjective

1. liable or seeming to cause starving.

   a starvation diet.

starvation British  

/ stɑːˈveɪʃən /

noun

1. 1. the act or an instance of starving or state of being starved

   2. ( as modifier )

      a starvation diet

      starvation wages

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• starvations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of starvation

First recorded in 1770–80; starve + -ation

Explanation

Starvation is what happens if you don’t eat for days or weeks and your body starts to shut down. Extreme poverty, drought and other dire circumstances can contribute to starvation. Starvation can be the result of war or famine, leading to the deaths of large numbers of people. Any organism that depends on food for energy is at risk of starvation when there isn't enough to eat. Starvation is thought by some to have entered the language in 1775 during the American Revolution, when a member of the British Parliament suggested starvation as a way to make the American rebels submit.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

starvation starvations

Emigration isn’t cheap, Ms. Kaushal reminds us: “Populations beset with high levels of poverty and starvation simply do not have the means to emigrate.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

For our early ancestors, body fat was a lifeline: too little could mean starvation, too much could slow you down.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026

"We may witness a crisis that will force 45 million more people into hunger and starvation."

From Barron's ● May 11, 2026

I know of no other document that describes so vividly not only starvation, bombardment, arrests, surveillance and crowding, but also the stench and disgust of daily life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

The local saloons and other businesses formed a Stockyards Aid Society, and relief stations distributed groceries to those families nearing starvation.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

Still bearing the scars from when she almost died, she went off the grid, calling herself Emma and taking jobs that were the “stuff that fresh starts and soul starvations were made of.”

From Washington Times ● Aug. 12, 2019

The cohort born in the 1970s and 1980s, who now compose the bulk of China’s workforce, grew up hearing about the deprivations and even starvations their parents experienced during China’s recent past.

From Slate ● Sep. 15, 2017

Lad, there are other starvations besides the total lack of food.

From Hidden Hand by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth

These epochs are replete with interesting and romantic incidents, new discoveries; starvations; battles; massacres; lonely, dangerous journeys, etc., which can only be touched upon in a volume of the present size.

From The Romance of the Colorado River The Story of its Discovery in 1840, with an Account of the Later Explorations, and with Special Reference to the Voyages of Powell through the Line of the Great Canyons by Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh

The acorn bread was not sufficient to sustain lives already so attenuated by repeated starvations.

From History of the Donner Party, a Tragedy of the Sierra by C. F. (Charles Fayette) McGlashan

Related Words

• deprivation
• famine
• malnutrition