starve

[ stahrv ]

/ stɑrv /

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See synonyms for: starve / starved / starving on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), starved, starv·ing.

to die or perish from lack of food or nourishment.

to be in the process of perishing or suffering severely from hunger.

to suffer from extreme poverty and need.

to feel a strong need or desire: The child was starving for affection.

Chiefly British Dialect. to perish or suffer extremely from cold.

Obsolete. to die.

verb (used with object), starved, starv·ing.

to cause to starve; kill, weaken, or reduce by lack of food.

to subdue, or force to some condition or action, by hunger: to starve a besieged garrison into a surrender.

to cause to suffer for lack of something needed or craved.

Chiefly British Dialect. to cause to perish, or to suffer extremely, from cold.

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Origin of starve

First recorded before 1000; Middle English sterven, Old English steorfan “to die”; cognate with German sterben

synonym study for starve

See hungry.

OTHER WORDS FROM starve

half-starved, adjectivehalf-starving, adjectiveself-starved, adjectiveun·starved, adjective

Words nearby starve

start something, startup, star turn, starvation, starvation wages, starve, starveling, Star Wars, starwort, Stary Oskol, stash

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use starve in a sentence

The sanctions will further starve Huawei of critical semiconductors.
‘A real uphill battle’: Why China will struggle to counter U.S.’s attack on Huawei|Veta Chan|September 10, 2020|Fortune
The troubling issue is Google’s huge share of all online ad revenue, starving all kinds of other publishers and site owners and crushing the news business.
Why we don’t need to break up Google|Aaron Pressman|September 4, 2020|Fortune
Previous actions had already restricted Huawei’s access to semiconductors, but the new order aims to further starve Huawei of chips by eliminating work-arounds that allowed it to buy chips designed by third parties.
This chipmaker was a winner in the U.S. crackdown on Huawei. Now, it’s another victim|Grady McGregor|August 20, 2020|Fortune
Consequently, our sky is not uniformly bright to our eyes, and most of the cosmos is photon-starved compared to our everyday circumstances.
The Universe Has Made Almost All the Stars It Will Ever Make - Issue 89: The Dark Side|Caleb Scharf|August 19, 2020|Nautilus

While researchers try to outdo one another on contrived benchmarks, one in every nine people in the world is starving.
Too many AI researchers think real-world problems are not relevant|Amy Nordrum|August 18, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Is it worse to let your family starve or profit off the carnage?
Brecht's Mercenary Mother Courage Turns 75|Katie Baker|September 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Still, the man did starve himself in the name of a same-sex marriage ban and it, unsurprisingly, earned him a lot of backlash.
Utah Man Gives Up Gay Marriage Hunger Strike|Caitlin Dickson|January 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This can explain why people who starve themselves can only lose minimal amounts of weight.
Eating More Fat Could Save Your Life|Daniela Drake|December 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He had wanted me to go into insurance, sure I would starve as an artist.
Allan Gurganus: How I Write|Noah Charney|October 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In our surreal rebirth, it makes sense that as newsrooms starve elsewhere, New Orleans has a newspaper war.
Eight Years After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans Has Been Resurrected|Jason Berry|August 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST
If we set him adrift the poor child would starve—unless the cat got him.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey
Not so much, either; 'cause a chicken will stir round an' scratch a livin' out the ground, sooner 'n starve.
Dorothy at Skyrie|Evelyn Raymond
I have seen examples of such being freed, that is, turned out of doors to starve.
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil|Maria Graham
Here, as in the former instance, the last syllables rhyme correctly, and the objection is confined to starve and deserve.
Notes and Queries, Number 178, March 26, 1853|Various
They would starve on the skin of the Scotch men and are too well-mannered to attack that of the Scotch ladies.
Friend Mac Donald|Max O'Rell

British Dictionary definitions for starve

starve

/ (stɑːv) /

verb

to die or cause to die from lack of food

to deprive (a person or animal) or (of a person, etc) to be deprived of food

(intr) informal to be very hungry

(foll by of or for) to deprive or be deprived (of something necessary), esp so as to cause suffering or malfunctioningthe engine was starved of fuel

(tr foll by into) to bring (to) a specified condition by starvingto starve someone into submission

archaic to be or cause to be extremely cold

Derived forms of starve

starver, noun

Word Origin for starve

Old English steorfan to die; related to Old Frisian sterva to die, Old High German sterban to die

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

starve

Origin of starve

synonym study for starve

OTHER WORDS FROM starve

Words nearby starve

Words related to starve

How to use starve in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for starve

Derived forms of starve

Word Origin for starve