starve — to suffer or die from lack of food
Part of speech: VERB
Definition: to suffer or die from lack of food
Pronunciation (IPA): /stɑːrv/
Example Sentences
- My roommate ate all the pizza - now I'm literally starving!
- The artist was starving for recognition until his painting went viral.
- Mom said 'You won't starve if you skip one meal,' but I felt like I was dying.
starve
VERB[/stɑːrv/]
to suffer or die from lack of food
Refugees starve during the long winter siege, waiting for any scrap of bread.
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🎤Pronunciation
🌳Etymology
Origin
Starve derives from Old English steorfan, originally meaning 'to die'. Over time, the word's semantic scope narrowed to specifically denote death by hunger, reflecting a shift from a general term for mortality to a particular cause of death.
Breakdown
The word comes directly from Old English steorfan (to die), with the -en suffix characteristic of Old English infinitive forms. The semantic narrowing from 'die' to 'die from hunger' occurred during the Middle English period as usage became increasingly restricted to starvation contexts.
🎵Rhyme
🔗Collocations
📝Examples
“My roommate ate all the pizza - now I'm literally starving!”
“The artist was starving for recognition until his painting went viral.”
“Mom said 'You won't starve if you skip one meal,' but I felt like I was dying.”
“The flowers in my garden are starving for water after this hot weather.”
📚Related Words
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