hunger

American  

[huhng-ger] / ˈhʌŋ gər /

noun

1. a compelling need or desire for food.

2. the painful sensation or state of weakness caused by the need of food.

   to collapse from hunger.

3. a shortage of food; famine.

4. a strong or compelling desire or craving.

   hunger for power.

   Synonyms:

   itch, lust, greed, appetite

---

verb (used without object)

1. to feel hunger; be hungry.

2. to have a strong desire.

verb (used with object)

1. Rare. to subject to hunger; starve.

idioms

1. from hunger, deplorably bad; dreadful: Also strictly from hunger.

   The styles in coats this winter are from hunger.

hunger British  

/ ˈhʌŋɡə /

noun

1. a feeling of pain, emptiness, or weakness induced by lack of food

2. an appetite, desire, need, or craving

   hunger for a woman

---

verb

1. to have or cause to have a need or craving for food

2. (intr; usually foll by for or after) to have a great appetite or desire (for)

Other Word Forms

• half-hungered adjective
• hungeringly adverb
• prehunger noun

Etymology

Origin of hunger

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hungor; cognate with German Hunger

Example Sentences

By the next month, immigrants inside the 2,500-capacity facility launched a hunger strike protesting conditions.

From Los Angeles Times

Sir Keir replied: "He will appreciate there are rules and procedures in place in relation to hunger strikes, and we're following those rules and procedures."

From BBC

An MP has started a protest outside a prison demanding urgent medical care for a hunger striker there.

From BBC

To study eating in the absence of hunger, participants then received a tray of snacks immediately after breakfast.

From Science Daily

Corbyn added that he had visited one of the hunger strikers and was "deeply concerned".

From BBC

Related Words

• craving
• desire
• famine
• greed
• longing
• lust
• starvation
• yearning