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
He won't famish," said Rufe, "with the large supply of sauce which he keeps on hand!
From The Young Surveyor; or Jack on the Prairies by Trowbridge, J. T. (John Townsend)
So viands were produced; to which the guests were invited to pay heedful attention; or take the consequences, and famish till the long voyage in prospect was ended.
From Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I by Melville, Herman
Relief must soon come from some quarter, else many in this community will famish.
From A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital by Jones, John Beauchamp
With their scant water supply at a distance and unprotected they could not hold out long in a siege, but would soon be compelled either to fight, fly or famish.
From Arizona Sketches by Munk, J. A. (Joseph Amasa)
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.
