starve
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starve
- /stɑːv/ UK
- /stɑɹv/ US
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)v
Where it comes from
From Middle English sterven (“to die, perish”), from Old English steorfan (“to die, perish”), from Proto-West Germanic *sterban, from Proto-Germanic *sterbaną (“to become stiff, die”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)terp- (“to lose strength, become numb, be motionless”); or from Proto-Indo-European *sterbʰ- (“to become stiff”), from *ster- (“stiff”); or a conflation of the aforementioned. Cognate with Scots stairve, sterve (“to die, perish, starve”), Saterland Frisian stjerwa (“to die”), West Frisian stjerre (“to die”), Dutch sterven (“to die”), German Low German starven (“to die”), German sterben (“to die”), Icelandic stirfinn (“peevish, froward”), Albanian shterp (“sterile, unproductive, barren land”).
verb starves · starving · starved · starven · starve
- To die because of lack of food or of not eating. During the Cultural Revolution I was exiled to Xincai County in Henan Province. There, 36 percent of the people starved to death in the early 1960s.
- To suffer severely because of lack of food or of not eating. I was starving, so I wrote S.O.S. on the desert island using rocks.
- To be very hungry. Can we go to a restaurant now? I'm starving!
- To kill or attempt to kill by depriving of food.
-
To make suffer severely by depriving of food.
Similar: famish
- To force a combatant to submit or surrender by depriving of food, as in a targeted siege. If they refuse to surrender the garrison, we'll just starve them out.
- To force a population center to submit or surrender by depriving of food, as in sieges in international armed conflicts.
- To deprive of nourishment or of some vital component. The uncaring parents starved the child of love.
- To deteriorate for want of any essential thing.
- To kill with cold; to (cause to) die from cold. I was half starved waiting out in that wind.
- To die; in later use especially to die slowly, waste away. Seuen moneths he ſo her kept in bitter ſmart, / Becauſe his ſinfull luſt ſhe would not ſerue, / Vntill ſuch time as noble Britomart / Releaſed her, that elſe was like to ſterue / Through cruell knife that her deare heart did kerue.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: hunger, crave, lust, thirst, starvation, famish, famine, hungry, die, choke, strangle, appetite, deprive, deny, faim, fast
Translations
Every language
verb to die because of lack of food
| Español | morir de hambre |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 굶어죽다 gulmeojukda |
| 日本語 | 餓死する gashi suru, 飢える ueru |
| 中文 | 餓死 /饿死 èsǐ |
| Português | morrer de fome |
| Français | mourir de faim |
| Deutsch | verhungern, Hungers sterben |
| Italiano | morire di fame |
| Ελληνικά | λιμοκτονώ limoktonó |
| Română | flămânzi, suferi de foame, muri de foame |
| Русский | голода́ть golodátʹ, умира́ть от го́лода umirátʹ ot góloda, умира́ть с го́лоду umirátʹ s gólodu, умира́ть с го́лода umirátʹ s góloda |
| Tiếng Việt | chết đói |
| العربية | مَاتَ جَوْعًا māta jawʕan |
| עברית | גָּוַע gavá' |
verb to be very hungry
| Español | morir de hambre, hambrear |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 飢える ueru |
| 中文 | 饿死 èsǐ |
| Português | estar morrendo de fome, estar faminto, estar louco de fome |
| Français | mourir de faim, crever de faim, crever la dalle, avoir l'estomac dans les talons |
| Deutsch | verhungern |
| Ελληνικά | πεθαίνω της πείνας pethaíno tis peínas, ψοφάω της πείνας psofáo tis peínas |
| Română | muri de foame |
| Русский | проголода́ться progolodátʹsja, изголода́ться izgolodátʹsja, умира́ть от го́лода umirátʹ ot góloda, голода́ть golodátʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | đói ngấu, đói meo |
| العربية | تَضَوَّرَ taḍawwara |
verb to deprive of nourishment
| Español | hambrear |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 飢えさせる uesaseru |
| Português | esfomear |
| Français | affamer |
| Deutsch | verhungern lassen, aushungern |
| Italiano | affamare |
| Română | înfometa |
| Русский | мори́ть го́лодом morítʹ gólodom |
verb obsolete: to die — see also die
| Русский | ча́хнуть čáxnutʹ |
|---|
Talk about this word "starve." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/starve. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. starve. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/starve "starve." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/starve.Cite this
@misc{starve_2026,
title = {starve},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/starve},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
