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hunger strike
hunger strikenouna deliberate refusal to eat, undertaken in protest against imprisonment, improper treatment, objectionable conditions, etc.
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hunger-strike
hunger-strikeverb (used without object)to go on a hunger strike.
hunger strike
1 Americannoun
verb (used without object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hunger strike1
First recorded in 1885–90
Origin of hunger-strike2
First recorded in 1910–15
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.
See Examples For:
Gabriela Soto, the wife of Martin Soto, a leader of the hunger strike, recalled her experiences with ICE attempting to move her husband from Delaney Hall, which was ultimately successful.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
That may also explain why, more than seven decades later, Indians continue to reach instinctively for the hunger strike.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
"It is our duty to raise our voice," the 59-year-old, who remains on hunger strike at the protest site, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
Starting on May 19, detainees launched a labor and hunger strike within Delaney Hall, which quickly became a hot spot for anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests and organizing.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
Political detainees all across the country had held a successful hunger strike, persuading the minister of law and order to release over nine hundred of them.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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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
"Didn't she hunger-strike to force the Authorities to accord her better prison treatment?"
From Mrs. Warren's Daughter A Story of the Woman's Movement by Johnston, Harry Hamilton, Sir
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
Italian embassies all over the world are at risk of anarchist attacks linked to the case of the hunger-striking Alfredo Cospito, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday.
From Reuters ● Jan. 31, 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
Navy Capt. John Robinson, a spokesman for the prison, said in a statement that an 11-year-old military policy permitting the involuntary feeding of hunger-striking detainees remained in effect.
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2017
She spoke with a proud reticence as to her sufferings, about her recent sojourn in Holloway, from which she had gained release by hunger-striking a fortnight before.
From The Judge by West, Rebecca
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
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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.