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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Synonym Usage

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

"Starve, stretch and strike," was how Sir Tony, Britain's Chief of Defence Staff, described the strategy in parliament this week, concluding that Russia has already "lost nearly half the combat effectiveness of its army."

From BBC • Jul. 7, 2023

Further actions were announced, including a shutdown of the Dan Ryan Expressway, on July 7th, and a hunger strike called Starve for Change.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 26, 2018

Throughout the Starve and Struggle years of “Theft by Finding” we spend time with a David Sedaris who’s doing what everyone does in his 20s.

From New York Times • May 29, 2017

"I had to show them that the weakest hands can still make impressive fires," he sings on "Cowards Starve."

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 4, 2015

Starve we should not; there are animals here, and we have guns, thank Heaven, and harpoons as well, and we know how to use them.

From Farthest North Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship 'Fram' 1893-1896 by Nansen, Fridtjof

Related Words

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