famish
to suffer or cause to suffer extreme hunger; starve.
to starve to death.
Origin of famish
1Words Nearby famish
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use famish in a sentence
The “cryes and teares of the poore, who professe they are almost ready to famish”, wrote John Wildman in 1648, prompted fears that “a sudden confusion would follow.”
The Original Climate Crisis: How the Little Ice Age Devastated Early Modern Europe | Ariel Hessayon | March 11, 2022 | Singularity HubBut the tendency to famish us displayed by our Rulers was not calculated to improve the morale of a civilian, or any, army.
The Siege of Kimberley | T. PhelanNever varlets So triumph'd o'er an old fat man: I was famish'd.
The Plays of Philip Massinger | Philip MassingerUnless, like the King of Babylon, they were to eat grass in the fashion of beasts, it seemed they must soon famish.
The Path of the King | John BuchanBut, in the interim, she must starve and famish like a white mouse learning to dance.'
Domitius therefore by preparing for his defence, and Marsus by seeming determined to famish, both protracted their lives.
British Dictionary definitions for famish
/ (ˈfæmɪʃ) /
(now usually passive) to be or make very hungry or weak
archaic to die or cause to die from starvation
Irish to make very cold: I was famished with the cold
Origin of famish
1Derived forms of famish
- famishment, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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