STARVE • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Starve

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/stɑrv/ Listen

verb

Starve v. t.

1.

To destroy with cold. (Eng.) "From beds of raging fire, to starve in ice Their soft ethereal warmth."

2.

To kill with hunger; as, maliciously to starve a man is, in law, murder.

3.

To distress or subdue by famine; as, to starve a garrison into a surrender. "Attalus endeavored to starve Italy by stopping their convoy of provisions from Africa."

4.

To destroy by want of any kind; as, to starve plants by depriving them of proper light and air.

5.

To deprive of force or vigor; to disable. "The pens of historians, writing thereof, seemed starved for matter in an age so fruitful of memorable actions." "The powers of their minds are starved by disuse."

Starve v. i. (past & past part. starved; pres. part. starving)

1.

To die; to perish. (Obs., except in the sense of perishing with cold or hunger.) "In hot coals he hath himself raked... Thus starved this worthy mighty Hercules."

2.

To perish with hunger; to suffer extreme hunger or want; to be very indigent. "Sometimes virtue starves, while vice is fed."

3.

To perish or die with cold. "Have I seen the naked starve for cold?" "Starving with cold as well as hunger." Note: In this sense, still common in England, but rarely used in the United States.

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Etymology of 'Starve'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Starve" Quotes from Famous Books

... bills, women who rob their husbands. Some men believe that an Indian shawl worth a thousand louis only cost five hundred francs, others that a shawl costing five hundred francs is worth a hundred louis. There are women, too, with narrow incomes, who scrape and save and starve their children to pay for a dress. I am innocent of these base meannesses. But this is the last extremity of my torture. Some women will sell themselves to their husbands, and so obtain their way, but ...

— Father Goriot • Honore de Balzac

... defense in case the Portuguese should return hither, as they are likely to do. All agreed that we should change our location and settlement, because it would be impossible to defend ourselves here where they could, simply by closing the entrances to the port, as they did at first, starve us, on account of the lack of food on this island. In view of other causes and arguments set forth for this change, we thought that the river Panae, situated forty leagues from this place, would be a more suitable site, for it abounds in rice, and no one from the sea could prevent us from going ...

— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 - Volume III, 1569-1576 • E.H. Blair

... cotton that is produced anywhere. It is a well known fact among cotton growers that Piura cotton has a peculiar strength of fiber that makes it sell for nearly double the price of that grown in our southern states. As goats can live where other animals will starve, this valley is also noted for its great goat herds which make their living on ...

— Birdseye Views of Far Lands • James T. Nichols

... tenaciously fixed upon the scheme for reclaiming the abandoned outer lands of his forefathers. "Behold," he cried, "when a hand is raised to sweep into oblivion a thousand earthworms they lift no voice in protest, and in this matter ye are less than earthworms. The dogs are content to starve dumbly while their masters feast, and ye are less than dogs. The dutiful son cheerfully submits himself to torture on the chance that his father's sufferings may be lessened, and the Emperor, as the supreme head, is more to be venerated than any father; but your hearts ...

— Kai Lung's Golden Hours • Ernest Bramah

... tired. All her buoyant life seemed to settle to a level where she must foster the youth of others and starve ...

— Country Neighbors • Alice Brown

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