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

Just then his stomach growled painfully with hunger.

From Literature

Another example is interoception, by which we sense changes in our own bodies such as a slight increase in our heart rate and hunger.

From Science Daily

The Narges Foundation, which supports her, described the hearing on Saturday as a "sham" and explained she had begun a hunger strike on 2 February.

From BBC

They are building demands around the issue and others, using picket lines and hunger strikes to help persuade Kaiser to use the powerful technology responsibly.

From Los Angeles Times

Alcott’s kitchen is one of the places where that hunger plays out.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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