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
Switzerland could not afford to be a Kingdom,—the expense of a Court and Royal Family would famish half her people.
From Glances at Europe In a Series of Letters from Great Britain, France, Italy, Switzerland, &c. During the Summer of 1851. by Greeley, Horace
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
He declared that should his wife go hence the fountains of his soul would dry up, his mind would famish, and the light of his life would go out in darkness.
From Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 02 Little Journeys To the Homes of Famous Women by Hubbard, Elbert
Take, then, your regular supplies of spiritual food, that your soul may not famish.
From A Practical Directory for Young Christian Females Being a Series of Letters from a Brother to a Younger Sister by Newcomb, Harvey
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.
