perish
Americanverb (used without object)
-
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
Related Words
See die 1.
Other Word Forms
- perishless adjective
- perishment noun
- unperished adjective
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
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.
Keats perished at 25, Shelley at 29 and Byron at 36.
One expert on Polynesian history has estimated that between 1862 and 1888—when Easter Island was brought under the jurisdiction of the Chilean navy—“about 94% of the population perished or emigrated.”
While local authorities said less than 40 died, NGOs insisted several thousand migrant workers -- many from Nepal -- perished in deplorable conditions in the extreme heat, often from heart attacks.
From Barron's
Australia's top order showed a greater runscoring intent early in the chase only to perish to a mixture of poor strokeplay and impressive bowling.
From BBC
The global scientific consensus is that most coral reefs would perish at warming of 1.5C above preindustrial levels -- the ambitious, long-term limit countries agreed to pursue under the 2015 Paris climate accord.
From Barron's
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.
