starve

American  

[stahrv] / stɑrv /

verb (used without object)

starved, starving

1. to die or perish from lack of food or nourishment.

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

3. to suffer from extreme poverty and need.

4. to feel a strong need or desire.

   The child was starving for affection.

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

6. Obsolete. to die.

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verb (used with object)

starved, starving

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

2. to subdue, or force to some condition or action, by hunger.

   to starve a besieged garrison into a surrender.

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

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

starve British  

/ stɑːv /

verb

1. to die or cause to die from lack of food

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

3. informal (intr) to be very hungry

4. to deprive or be deprived (of something necessary), esp so as to cause suffering or malfunctioning

   the engine was starved of fuel

5. to bring (to) a specified condition by starving

   to starve someone into submission

6. archaic to be or cause to be extremely cold

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Related Words

See hungry.

Other Word Forms

• half-starved adjective
• half-starving adjective
• self-starved adjective
• starver noun
• unstarved adjective

Etymology

Origin of starve

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

Explanation

The verb starve means suffering or death caused by a lack of food, though people also use it as a dramatic way to say they are hungry, as in, "If we don't start cooking dinner now, I think I'll starve." The word starve has origins in the Old English word steorfan, meaning “to die.” It is true that if you don't eat for a period of time, you could starve, meaning die from hunger. Today, starve is also used to describe less severe limitations on food, such as when you tell your friend, "I have to go to lunch now. I'm starving." This is a way of describing discomfort caused by hunger.

Example Sentences

“You’re going to probably starve the person to death before you starve the cancer to death,” she said.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

The book’s opening lines capture his zero-sum Malthusian thinking: “The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

"I warned loved ones that I might be arrested, leaving a spare set of keys and hoping my cat wouldn't starve in my absence."

From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026

People feel "trapped" and farmers fear livestock could "starve" after a significant landslip closed the main route in and out of a village several weeks ago.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

If we did, my brothers would probably starve.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

Related Words

• cease
• forgo
• pass up
• quit
• refrain
• renounce
• shun
• withhold