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Showing results for "perishing"
  • present participle of perish.
Synonyms

perishing

American  
[per-i-shing] / ˈpɛr ɪ ʃɪŋ /

adjective

  1. causing destruction, ruin, extreme discomfort, or death.

    lost in the perishing cold.


perishing British  
/ ˈpɛrɪʃɪŋ /

adjective

  1. informal (of weather, etc) extremely cold

  2. slang (intensifier qualifying something undesirable)

    it's a perishing nuisance!

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of perishing

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at perish, -ing 2

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:

All that’s clear is massive landmarks are perishing and that you need to run.

From Salon Apr. 26, 2024

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

Levin yelled out into the roar, anything to take his mind off the thought of perishing in a landslide.

From Slate Nov. 26, 2022

"We need to save people from perishing before they can be liberated from al-Shabab," Prof Samatar says.

From BBC Sep. 26, 2022

“Tell me about the house, sugah. I’m still perishing from curiosity.”

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

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