starve

[ stahrv ]

/ stɑrv /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR starve 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.

Nearby words

startlingly, startsy, startup, starvation, starvation wages, starve, starveling, starving, starwort, stary oskol, stases

Origin of starve

before 1000; Middle English sterven, Old English steorfan to die; cognate with German sterben

Related formshalf-starved, adjectivehalf-starv·ing, adjectiveself-starved, adjectiveun·starved, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for starve

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
For them, it was assimilate or starve, with the constant reality of low-wage labor being undercut by new arrivals.
The Heritage Immigration Study, Ctd.|Justin Green|May 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
No one will starve here (except those inexplicably ignored persons who already are starving).
The Scariest Thing About Sandy: Guarding the Water Supply|Kent Sepkowitz|October 30, 2012|DAILY BEAST

In a way, it was my decision not to starve myself that turned me into a supermodel, and later on, a businesswoman.
Tyra Banks’s Open Letter to Models: ‘Vogue’ to Ban Images of Anorexia|Tyra Banks|May 15, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Work or starve is a stern choice, particularly if one has never done either.
The Girl From Keller's|Harold Bindloss
There for a while her relatives left her, she must starve or return to them.
Curiosities of Olden Times|S. Baring-Gould
People who "starve to death" in shorter times do not die of starvation, but of fright.
The Book of Life: Vol. I Mind and Body; Vol. II Love and Society|Upton Sinclair
Unless you chemists can solve the protium problem, Germany must cut her population swiftly, if we do not starve out altogether.
City of Endless Night|Milo Hastings
Ma, I am not going to starve to death, I am going to eat of the bodies of the dead.
History of the Donner Party|C.F. McGlashan

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 Formsstarver, 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

Word Origin and History for starve

starve

Old English steorfan "to die" (past tense stearf, past participle storfen), from Proto-Germanic *sterban "be stiff" (cf. Old Frisian sterva, Dutch sterven, Old High German sterban "to die," Old Norse stjarfi "tetanus"), from PIE root *ster- "stiff, rigid" (cf. Greek sterphnios "stiff, rigid," sterphos "hide, skin," Old Church Slavonic strublu "strong, hard;" see stare).

The conjugation became weak in English by 16c. The sense narrowed to "die of cold" (14c.); meaning "to kill with hunger" is first recorded 1520s (earlier to starve of hunger, early 12c.). Intransitive sense of "to die of hunger" dates from 1570s. German cognate sterben retains the original sense of the word, but the English has come so far from its origins that starve to death (1910) is now common.

Medicine definitions for starve

starve

[ stärv ]

v.

To suffer or die from extreme or prolonged lack of food.

To deprive of food so as to cause suffering or death.

starve

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

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Nearby words

Origin of starve

Examples from the Web for starve

British Dictionary definitions for.css-ylq2vz{color:#1a1a1a;} starve

starve

verb

Word Origin for starve

Word Origin and History for starve

starve

Medicine definitions for starve

starve

v.

British Dictionary definitions for starve