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

Example Sentences

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

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

Instead of leading the wobbly W.F.L. to prosperity, though, Larry Csonka had watched the starveling league die midway through its second season.

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

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