starvation
Americannoun
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of starvation
Explanation
Starvation is what happens if you don’t eat for days or weeks and your body starts to shut down. Extreme poverty, drought and other dire circumstances can contribute to starvation. Starvation can be the result of war or famine, leading to the deaths of large numbers of people. Any organism that depends on food for energy is at risk of starvation when there isn't enough to eat. Starvation is thought by some to have entered the language in 1775 during the American Revolution, when a member of the British Parliament suggested starvation as a way to make the American rebels submit.
Vocabulary lists containing starvation
Africa - Middle School
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Africa - High School
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Part 2 Vocabulary (Unit 1)
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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.
Every day I pick up the giant backpack of cumbersome, crippling starvation and confusion, and put it on.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
"In many places, groundwater extraction, sediment starvation, and rapid urbanization are causing land to sink much faster than previously recognized," Ohenhen said.
From Science Daily • Apr. 20, 2026
It brought major disruption to marine ecosystems: mass die-offs of seabirds, fishery disasters, kelp degradation, whale entanglements, sea lion starvation, fish migration and harmful algal blooms, Amaya said.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026
Unions and workers complain of "starvation wages" which have been frozen since 2022.
From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026
The local saloons and other businesses formed a Stockyards Aid Society, and relief stations distributed groceries to those families nearing starvation.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
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.
