First recorded in 1885–90
First recorded in 1910–15
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The protests gained global attention after activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk joined them on 28 June and began an indefinite hunger strike in support of their demands.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
NEW DELHI—The leaders of India’s “Cockroach” protests said their supporters wouldn’t retreat even after an activist who galvanized the large-scale demonstrations ended a hunger strike on Friday after winning concessions from the government.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke welcomed Wangchuk's decision to end his hunger strike but said the movement would press ahead with its campaign until the education minister resigns.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
But, he said, he would not end his hunger strike unless the government gave him an assurance that no force or retaliatory action would be used against students.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Wessels was a direct man and demanded to know why we were on a hunger strike.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
She began recounting her story in media interviews and on Palm Sunday 1996 began a weeks-long hunger-strike and vigil in Lafayette Square outside the White House.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 19, 2021
They conducted a week-long "hunger-strike" in protest, claiming that the British government had not done enough to help their son.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2017
Elshamy's younger brother Mosa'ab, an award-winning independent photojournalist, said on Monday night that the move marked a "huge victory" for the reporter, whom the authorities had denied was undergoing a hunger-strike.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 16, 2014
“This was a very short hunger-strike and was not widely discussed or reported like most things in Bagram,” he said.
From Newsweek ● Sep. 2, 2013
"That is the essence of a hunger-strike," said the thin hen.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, March 28, 1917 by Various
That changed on 18 July when Delhi police forcibly removed and hospitalised hunger-striking educator Sonam Wangchuk.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Last week, she gave an exclusive interview to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, calling for the release of her friend, the hunger-striking activist Farhad Meysami.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 15, 2023
JERICHO, West Bank – A Palestinian court on Thursday extended the detention of a hunger-striking Palestinian-American activist who claims she was tortured in captivity.
From Fox News ● Dec. 6, 2018
But around Sept. 19, guards stopped taking hunger-striking detainees to feeding stations, said Clive Stafford Smith, a lawyer for the international human rights organization Reprieve.
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2017
For the matters in which she was engaged were no child's play, and the excitements of prison and hunger-striking might tell even on the strongest physique.
From Delia Blanchflower by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.
One day last fortnight, after 650 of the prison's 1,414 prisoners had yammered, clamored and "hunger-struck" against the prison food and discipline, six ringleaders were thrust into "The Klondike."
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
