starve

verb

ˈstärv 

starved; starving

intransitive verb

1

a

: to perish from lack of food

b

: to suffer extreme hunger

2

a

archaic : to die of cold

b

British : to suffer greatly from cold

3

: to suffer or perish from deprivation

starved for affection

transitive verb

1

a

: to kill with hunger

b

: to deprive of nourishment

c

: to cause to capitulate by or as if by depriving of nourishment

2

: to destroy by or cause to suffer from deprivation

3

archaic : to kill with cold

Examples of starve in a Sentence

Without food they would starve.

They left him to starve out in the desert.

providing food for starving children

They tried to starve their enemies into submission.

It was clear that the dog had been starved.

You don't have to starve yourself to lose weight.

Recent Examples on the Web

Vampire bats build reciprocal relationships Blood is not very nutritious, and vampire bats that fail to feed will starve relatively quickly. —Sebastian Stockmaier, The Conversation, 28 Oct. 2024

Minervini concluded after filming scores of America’s least fortunate citizens, from heavily armed citizen militias in the South to starving Black hip-hop artists, that documentary makers too often purport to be revealing truth. —Will Tizard, Variety, 28 Oct. 2024

Why does Israel need to be told to allow food to starving people if this war is being fought on the up-and-up? —Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2024

The tricky thing is, her diet, like all the others above, wasn’t sustainable long-term; in fact, some research shows that sticking to a low-FODMAP diet for an extended period of time, in particular, could shift the balance of your microbiome in a negative direction by starving your good gut bugs. —Erica Sloan, SELF, 24 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English sterven to die, starve, from Old English steorfan to die; akin to Old High German sterban to die, and probably to Lithuanian starinti to stiffen — more at stare

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Phrases Containing starve

• starve to death

Kids Definition

starve

verb

ˈstärv 

starved; starving

1

: to suffer or die or cause to suffer or die from lack of food

2

: to suffer or die or cause to suffer or die from a lack of something other than food

a child starving for affection

Etymology

Old English steorfan "to die (from any cause)"

Medical Definition

starve

verb

ˈstärv 

starved; starving

intransitive verb

1

: to perish from lack of food

2

: to suffer extreme hunger

transitive verb

1

: to kill with hunger

2

: to deprive of nourishment