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starve

v.
US //ˈstɑɹv// UK //stˈɑːv// starve
  1. 1 to suffer or die from hunger (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    to suffer greatly or die because there is not enough food to eat.

    to perish or suffer extreme physiological distress due to a lack of food. Intransitive in this primary sense.

    Example

    During the long winter, many animals in the forest began to starve.

    Example

    The historical records describe a population forced to starve as the prolonged drought destroyed three consecutive seasons of staple crops.
    • famish
  2. 2 to be very hungry (v.)
    B1 Intermediate Informal

    to feel very hungry and want to eat immediately.

    to experience a strong sensation of hunger; frequently used as a hyperbolic figure of speech in informal contexts.

    Example

    Is dinner ready yet? I am absolutely starving.

    Example

    After a twelve-hour shift without a proper break, the entire crew was starving and headed straight for the nearest diner.
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  1. 3 to deprive of food (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    to deliberately prevent a person or animal from having food.

    to cause a person or animal to suffer or die by withholding food. Transitive — takes a direct object.

    Example

    The cruel owner was arrested for trying to starve his dog.

    Example

    The military strategy was designed to starve the besieged city into submission by cutting off all supply routes from the north.
Origin

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”).

Word family

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