perish

[per-ish]

verb (used without object)

1. to die or be destroyed through violence, privation, etc..

   to perish in an earthquake.

   Synonyms: expire

2. to pass away or disappear.

   an age of elegance that has forever perished.

   Synonyms: vanish, molder, rot, shrivel, wither
   Antonyms: appear

3. to suffer destruction or ruin.

   His valuable paintings perished in the fire.

4. to suffer spiritual death.

   Save us, lest we perish.

perish

/ ˈpɛrɪʃ /

verb

1. to be destroyed or die, esp in an untimely way

2. (tr sometimes followed by with or from) to cause to suffer

   we were perished with cold

3. to rot

   leather perishes if exposed to bad weather

4. may it never be or happen thus

noun

1. informal,  to die or come near to dying of thirst or starvation

Other Word Forms

• perishless adjective
• perishment noun
• unperished adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of perish¹

1200–50; Middle English perissen < Old French periss-, long stem of perir < Latin perīre to perish, literally, go through, spend fully, equivalent to per- per- + īre to go

Word History and Origins

Origin of perish¹

C13: from Old French périr, from Latin perīre to pass away entirely, from _per- (away) + īre to go

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. perish the thought, may it never happen: used facetiously or as an afterthought of foreboding.

More idioms and phrases containing perish

• publish or perish

Synonym Study

See die ¹.

Example Sentences

A strength of “The Gales of November” is the way Mr. Bacon weaves in the stories of the crewmen who perished when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The trees were sprouting green shoots and to the naked eye appeared healthy — the only sign of life on the side of the street where historic Janes Village homes burned and some neighbors perished.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Although Alice never ran the risk of actually perishing in Wonderland, Arisu is another matter because of the very nature of the Borderland and how you gain entry through a near-death experience.

Read more on Salon

A total of 229 passengers, 12 cabin crew and 19 people on the ground perished when the plane crashed.

Read more on BBC

The UN warned in July that the couple could perish "in such degrading conditions" if they did not receive medical care at once, calling their detention "inhumane".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• cease 
• crumble 
• disappear 
• disintegrate 
• pass away 
• rot 
• succumb 
• vanish 
• wither