starveling

American  

[stahrv-ling] / ˈstɑrv lɪŋ /

noun

1. a person, animal, or plant that is starving.

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adjective

1. starving; suffering from lack of nourishment.

2. pining with want.

3. poverty-stricken.

4. poor in condition or quality.

5. such as to entail or suggest starvation.

starveling British  

/ ˈstɑːvlɪŋ /

noun

1. 1. a starving or poorly fed person, animal, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a starveling child

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adjective

1. insufficient; meagre; scant

Etymology

Origin of starveling

First recorded in 1540–50; starve + -ling ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

starveling

As a preliminary they summoned to the Royal Palace in Madrid a starveling rabble of beggars from among whom were chosen by lot 13 men and 13 women.

From Time Magazine Archive

What scribbling starveling, faced with debts and rejection slips -- and knowing that Turow is in addition a handsomely paid lawyer -- could resist the impulse to sue?

From Time Magazine Archive

Like many another Irishman, he sees the skull beneath the skin, just as his starveling heroes see the sharp rocks gnaw through the thin soil.

From Time Magazine Archive

When the U. S. Army was a peacetime starveling, this Kilkenny cat-spat was just another bureaucratic brawl.

From Time Magazine Archive

And Carmel, begun by starveling writers and unwanted painters, is now a community of the well-to-do and the retired.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

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