starve

verb

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Authoritarian regimes are notoriously ineffective at providing essential services for their people, which is why the people of North Korea are starving. Tom Zirpoli, Baltimore Sun, 4 Mar. 2025 Lawyers with the Department of Justice argued the relief requested by the federal unions who brought the lawsuit amounted to putting the CFPB into receivership, while the plaintiffs argued the Trump administration was causing irreparable harm by slowly starving the agency. Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 3 Mar. 2025 Stalin reinstituted the ban on the Ukrainian language, liquidated Kyiv’s political class and intelligentsia, and starved millions of Ukrainians to death. James Verini, The New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2025 The series began in 2015, and highlighted Ruby's harsh discipline tactics, which included starving her children as punishment. David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for starve

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of starve was in the 15th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Starve.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/starve. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.

Kids Definition

starve

verb
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
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

More from Merriam-Webster on starve

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