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.
The President pondered, smiled, said: "Well, they can't famish on that."
From Time Magazine Archive
The gorging a royal kitchen may stint and famish the negotiations of a kingdom.
From The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 02 (of 12) by Burke, Edmund
"It's famish, this fashion," muttered the elderly cynic.
From A Son of Hagar A Romance of Our Time by Caine, Hall, Sir
The rag refers to the flag, and the famish to the bad cuisine.
From Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook, Vol. 3 by Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham
The last sounds which rang in my ears were the voices of the hungry gnomes, calling out, "Give us our victim; we famish."
From Tales of the Wonder Club Volume I by Halidom, M. Y.
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.
