Definition

Noun: A hunger strike is a deliberate refusal to eat food, undertaken voluntarily by a person or group as a form of nonviolent protest, typically to achieve a specific political or social goal. It is a method of applying pressure by using one's own body and health as a tool of dissent.

Usage

The term "hunger strike" is used to describe a sustained, public act of protest. It is often employed by prisoners, activists, or political dissidents to draw attention to a cause, demand changes in policy, or protest against perceived injustices. The act gains power from the risk it poses to the striker's own health and life.

Examples

• The political prisoner began a hunger strike to protest his unjust detention.
• Several activists have joined the hunger strike outside the government building.
• The protest ended after 30 days when the authorities agreed to negotiate with the hunger strike participants.

Advanced Usage

• To be on a hunger strike: The state of actively refusing food as a protest.
  • She has been on a hunger strike for two weeks.
• To go on (a) hunger strike: To begin such a protest.
  • The inmates threatened to go on hunger strike if conditions did not improve.
• To stage a hunger strike: To organize and carry out this form of protest.
  • The students staged a hunger strike to demand action on climate change.

Variants and Related Words

• Hunger striker (noun): A person who is engaged in a hunger strike.
  • The hunger strikers were visited by a doctor.

Synonyms

• Fast (as a protest): A period of abstaining from all or some kinds of food or drink, especially as a religious observance or protest.
• Protest fast: A fast undertaken specifically for the purpose of protest.

Related Concepts

• Nonviolent resistance: A strategy for social change that uses peaceful methods, such as protests, strikes, and civil disobedience, without using violence. A hunger strike is a form of nonviolent resistance.
• Civil disobedience: The active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government as a form of peaceful protest. Hunger strikes can be an act of civil disobedience.

Noun

1. a voluntary fast undertaken as a means of protest