# starvation

/stɑɹˈveɪʃən/ (US) · /stɑːvˈeɪʃən/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/starvation
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. lack of food

noun · CEFR B2

suffering or death caused by having nothing to eat for a long time.

For teachers: the state of suffering or death caused by a lack of food. Uncountable in its general sense, though countable when referring to specific instances of famine.

- The charity is working hard to save thousands of people from starvation after the crops failed.
- The prolonged siege reduced the city's population to the brink of starvation, forcing the local authorities to appeal for international humanitarian intervention.

### 2. lack of resources

noun · CEFR C1 · Formal

a situation where there is not enough of something important, like money or information.

For teachers: a severe shortage or deprivation of necessary resources other than food. Often used figuratively to describe institutional or emotional lack.

- The school suffered from a starvation of funds, so they couldn't buy new books.
- The research department complained of a starvation of data, arguing that without more primary sources, the study could not reach a valid conclusion.

### 3. computing

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

when a computer program cannot finish its work because it is waiting for something it needs.

For teachers: a state in which a process is perpetually denied the necessary resources to complete its task, often due to scheduling algorithms prioritising other tasks.

- The system slowed down because one small task was suffering from starvation.
- To prevent process starvation, the operating system employs a fair-share scheduling algorithm that ensures every thread eventually receives a slice of CPU time.

Usage: Usually refers to CPU time, memory, or network bandwidth in multi-tasking systems.

## Examples

- The animals died of starvation during the long, cold winter.
- The charity is working hard to prevent starvation in the region after the crops failed for the third year.
- Prolonged starvation triggers a series of metabolic adaptations as the body attempts to preserve vital organ function by consuming its own fat and muscle tissues.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.