perish
Americanverb (used without object)
-
perishes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
perished,
past participle, past
-
perishing
present participle
-
to die or be destroyed through violence, privation, etc..
to perish in an earthquake.
- Synonyms:
- expire
-
to pass away or disappear.
an age of elegance that has forever perished.
- Antonyms:
- appear
-
to suffer destruction or ruin.
His valuable paintings perished in the fire.
-
to suffer spiritual death.
Save us, lest we perish.
idioms
verb
-
to be destroyed or die, esp in an untimely way
-
(tr sometimes followed by with or from) to cause to suffer
we were perished with cold
-
to rot
leather perishes if exposed to bad weather
-
may it never be or happen thus
noun
Synonym Usage
See die 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
perishsimple
-
perishessimple
-
have perishedperfect
-
has perishedperfect
-
am perishingprogressive
-
are perishingprogressive
-
is perishingprogressive
-
have been perishingperfect progressive
-
has been perishingperfect progressive
Past
-
perishedsimple
-
had perishedperfect
-
was perishingprogressive
-
were perishingprogressive
-
had been perishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of perish
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
Explanation
To perish means to die. Your brother's goldfish might perish if he forgets to feed it — so be sure to remind him that Goldie needs her dinner! Perish comes from a Latin verb that means "to pass away." Many passengers on the Titanic perished after the ship hit an iceberg. Perish can also be used figuratively, as when an op-ed argues that the idea of the American Dream perished in the 21st century. People also sometimes use this word simply to be dramatic. You might, for instance, tell your mom that you'll perish if you aren't allowed to spend the weekend at your best friend's house.
Vocabulary lists containing perish
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Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" (1863)
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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:
Miss enough feedings and a vulnerable chick can perish.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Evolution occurs through random variation and natural selection: The strong survive and reproduce; the weak perish.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
Instead, there are scores of planets and moons where humans, if exposed to local conditions without life support, would perish immediately.
From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2025
"However, a much more severe disease arrives, one that improved varieties are normally more resistant to... and the local varieties perish, or perhaps don't produce fruit," he told AFP.
From Barron's ● Nov. 14, 2025
Ivan told her, “Keep going, Commander; we are bound to make it. On the other hand, if we must perish, at least let’s go together!”
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Another is a pungent work of terror about a cursed man who inexplicably perishes in the village’s crypt, forcing the townspeople to investigate by disinterring the bodies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
"We need to get the food out as soon as we can before it perishes," Steele said.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
When the cells die, their myelin production perishes with them, causing myelin sheaths to break down with nothing to replenish them.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 28, 2024
West of the Cascades, many a plant perishes due to excessive rain in winter, even though it’s cold hardy and “drought-tolerant.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
A similar belief prevails among horticulturists, who assert that the graft perishes when the parent tree decays.
From Curiosities of Medical Experience by J. G. (John Gideon) Millingen
I did not know then how many people had perished, but I knew countless families would be grieving that day.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
Saud survived until lunch but Babar perished 40 minutes before the interval - bowled by Tongue - gesticulating at the pitch.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Before the service began, a worshiper read aloud the names of some 200 parishioners who perished.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Family members say three of Lobga’s uncles perished during a defining Chinese crackdown on Tibet in 1959—when the young Dalai Lama fled to India—and other relatives were imprisoned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
And now at last Odysseus would have perished, battered inhumanly, but he had the gift of self-possession from grey-eyed Athena.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2025
The young meat-eater had chomped off the hind legs of two parrot-like dinosaurs called caenagnathids before perishing itself.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 8, 2023
And she claimed her second victim in her second over, Sarah Bryce perishing for 13 from nine balls when a mis-timed shot resulted in a leading edge that was easily gathered by wicketkeeper Nicole Faltum.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2023
Levin yelled out into the roar, anything to take his mind off the thought of perishing in a landslide.
From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2022
“Will you tell us about the new house, Bull? I’m perishing from curiosity,” Lillian spoke.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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.
