famish

/'fæmiʃ/

Thân thiện

A child feels famished after playing outside all afternoon.

Definition

1. Verb (transitive):

   • To cause to suffer severely from hunger; to deprive of food.
   • To cause to die from lack of food.

2. Verb (intransitive):

   • To suffer or die from extreme hunger.
   • To be very hungry; to starve.

Usage and Examples

• Transitive verb (to cause hunger/death):

  • The siege was intended to famish the city into surrender.
  • Cruel rulers have been known to famish their prisoners.

• Intransitive verb (to suffer/die from hunger or to be very hungry):

  • During the great famine, many thousands famished.
  • I skipped breakfast and now I'm absolutely famished. (common informal use meaning very hungry)

Advanced Usage and Notes

• "Famish" is a strong, somewhat literary or formal word. In modern, everyday English, "starve" is more commonly used for all its meanings.
• The use of "famished" as an adjective (meaning extremely hungry) is more frequent in contemporary English than the verb "famish" itself.
  • After the long hike, we were famished.

Variants and Related Words

• Famished (adj): Extremely hungry.
  • The famished refugees desperately needed food.
• Famishment (n): The state of being famished; starvation. (Rare)

Synonyms

• Starve: The most common direct synonym for all meanings of "famish".
• Deprive: (in the transitive sense of withholding necessities).
• Perish: (in the intransitive sense of dying, often from hunger).

Phrasal Verbs

• Not applicable. "Famish" is not typically used in phrasal verb constructions.

Related Idioms

• "I'm famished!": A common exclamation meaning "I am extremely hungry!"
  • When are we eating? I'm famished!

Học thuật

Verb

1. die of food deprivation
   • The political prisoners starved to death
   • Many famished in the countryside during the drought
2. deprive of food
   • They starved the prisoners
3. be hungry; go without food
   • Let's eat--I'm starving!

Từ đồng nghĩa

• starve
• hunger