famine
n. C / Un. a situation where there is almost no food for a long time in a large area. It causes many people to become very hungry or sick.
n. an extreme and widespread scarcity of food, typically resulting in malnutrition and increased mortality across a population.
The country suffered a terrible famine after the crops failed.
International aid organizations are working to prevent a famine in the region following three years of severe drought.
Historians argue that the famine was caused not just by environmental factors, but by a failure of political systems to distribute existing resources to those in need.
Borrowed from Middle French famine, itself from the root of Latin fames. Cognate with Spanish hambruna (“famine”).
Uncountable when referring to the general phenomenon; countable when referring to a specific historical event.