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starvingextremely hungry; suffering or dying from hunger

Part of speech: ADJECTIVE

Definition: extremely hungry; suffering or dying from hunger

Pronunciation (IPA): /ˈstɑːrvɪŋ/

Example Sentences

  • I'm starving! Let's grab some food before the meeting.
  • The drama queen declared she was starving after not eating for two whole hours.
  • My phone battery is starving for power - it's at 2%!

starving

ADJECTIVE

[/ˈstɑːrvɪŋ/]

extremely hungry; suffering or dying from hunger

extremely hungry; suffering or dying from hunger
💡 Concept

extremely hungry; suffering or dying from hunger

Starving artist keeps on carving!
🎵 Rhyme

Starving artist keeps on carving!

Got the picture? Now let's practice.

🎤Pronunciation

🇺🇸 US/ˈstɑːrvɪŋ/
🇬🇧 UK/ˈstɑːvɪŋ/

🌳Etymology

Rootstarv
Suffix--ing

Origin

The word derives from Old English 'steorfan', which originally meant 'to die' or 'to perish'. Through the Medieval period, its meaning narrowed to specifically denote death by hunger, becoming linked directly to the deprivation of food as a cause of death.

Breakdown

steorfan (Old English: to die) > starve (to die of hunger) + -ing (present participle suffix, indicating ongoing action or condition). The morphological evolution reflects a semantic shift from general death to death specifically caused by starvation.

🎵Rhyme

carvingmarvingjarving
carving
marving
jarving

🔗Collocations

starving hungry
starving children
absolutely starving
starving artist
starving population
starving to death

📝Examples

I'm starving! Let's grab some food before the meeting.

😄 Fun example

The drama queen declared she was starving after not eating for two whole hours.

😄 Fun example

My phone battery is starving for power - it's at 2%!

The charity works to feed starving families in developing countries.

📚Related Words

Synonyms

famishedravenoushungryundernourishedmalnourished

Antonyms

satisfiedfullfed

Related

hungerfamineappetitestarvationmalnutrition

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