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

Army and on July 4, with the rank of brigadier general, took over command of the Fourteenth's predecessor, the starveling China Air Task Force.

From Time Magazine Archive

During the postwar decade, first as a starveling poet and then as tutor at Magdalen College, he felt something else at his back-the Hound of Heaven.

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

He was a starveling lawyer, writing orations for practice in the hot, sandy afternoons; galloping his horse to & from a young man's fun in the Kansas night.

From Time Magazine Archive

In no time at all, the stiff barbs of his minuscule feathers broke through their pale blue quillskins, and Pacheco found himself feeding a greedy, plump fluffball instead of a naked starveling.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

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