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
- famishment noun
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.
"At dinner, overindulgence doesn't happen because you don’t come to the table famished," she added.
From Salon
And audiences, it turned out, were famished for such a protagonist.
From Los Angeles Times
It was Ramadan, and when the time came to break the traditional fast, T was famished.
From Seattle Times
The district ranger was expecting the crew at his ranger station, so he and his wife treated the famished smokejumpers to a chicken dinner, ice cream and apple pie when they emerged from the backcountry.
From Seattle Times
Forty-two people — and let’s not forget they’re people — arrived in downtown Los Angeles, presumably famished as well as frightened after a 23-hour bus ride with starvation rations.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
