famish
famish Lexical Profile
famish Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To reduce someone or something to extreme hunger; to starve or deprive of necessary food or sustenance.
"The prolonged winter drought threatened to famish the livestock across the entire valley."
To suffer severely or perish from extreme hunger or lack of food.
"Without regular supply convoys, the isolated villagers would quickly famish during the harsh winter months."
Word Nuance & Usage
In contemporary English, the finite verb 'famish' is somewhat literary or archaic; the word is overwhelmingly encountered in its participial adjective form 'famished' ('We are famished') to mean extremely hungry.
• Rhymes for famish
Word Origin & Etymology
From Middle English 'famishen', an alteration (influenced by verbs ending in '-ish' like 'vanquish' or 'perish') of earlier 'famen', borrowed from Old French 'afamer' ('to starve'), from Vulgar Latin '*affamare', derived from Latin 'fames' ('hunger, famine').