famish
English
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famish
- /ˈfamɪʃ/ UK
Where it comes from
From Middle English famisshe, from famen (“starve”), from Old French afamer, ultimately from Latin famēs (“hunger”). Compare affamish, famine. Cognate with Spanish hambre (“hunger”).
verb famishes · famishing · famished
- To starve (to death); to kill or destroy with hunger. Even so did Corellius Rufus, another grave senator, by the relation of Plinius Secundus, Epist. lib.1, epist.12, famish himself to death […]
- To exhaust the strength or endurance of, by hunger; to cause to be very hungry. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread.
- To kill, or to cause great suffering to, by depriving or denying anything necessary. And famish him of breath, if not of bread?
- To force, control, or constrain by famine. He had […]famished Paris into a surrender.
- To die of hunger; to starve to death. Some ſay that Rauens foſter forlorne children, / The vvhilſt their ovvne birds famiſh in their neſts: / Oh be to me though thy hard hart ſay no, / Nothing ſo kinde but ſomething pittifull.
- To suffer extreme hunger or thirst, so as to be exhausted in strength, or to nearly perish. You are all resolved rather to die than to famish?
- To suffer extremity from deprivation of anything essential or necessary. The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish.
Talk about this word "famish." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/famish. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. famish. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/famish "famish." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/famish.Cite this
@misc{famish_2026,
title = {famish},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/famish},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
