What does starve mean?
To starve is to suffer from extreme hunger, especially to the point of serious physical weakness or death. The word can also describe the deprivation of any essential resource: a plant may be starved of water, while a person denied affection or attention may be said to be starved of it. “Starve for food” describes an organism’s need for nourishment, whereas “starve someone of food” describes causing that deprivation. “I’m starving” is a common informal expression meaning that the speaker is very hungry. The verb has serious and often distressing associations with famine, poverty, and neglect, although it can also be used humorously or metaphorically. Its history links it to other Germanic words meaning simply “to die,” but English “starve” became especially associated with death caused by hunger.
verbTo suffer or die from a lack of food. It can also mean to deprive someone or something of food, or, more generally, of something essential.
- To suffer from extreme hunger or die from lack of food.
- To deprive a person, animal, or plant of food or another essential resource.
- To experience extreme hunger; informally, to be very hungry.
"The seedlings would starve if they were not watered during the prolonged drought."
"Thousands of people starved during the famine."
"The neglected plants had been starved of water."
Several close Germanic relatives of “starve,” including German sterben and Dutch sterven, simply mean “to die,” while English came to emphasize death from hunger.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does starve come from?
The word comes from Old English stærvan, meaning “to perish, die, or starve,” through the Germanic form *starbaną. It is closely related to Dutch sterven and German sterben, both meaning “to die,” as well as to an older European root associated with withering or dying. English subsequently developed the more specific sense of dying or suffering from a lack of food.
How starve is actually used
The phrase “starve for” normally means to lack a necessary resource, as in “starve for attention.” In the causative construction, “starve someone of something” means to deprive them of it. “I’m starving” is an informal and emphatic way of saying that one is very hungry.
Easily confused with starve
“Starve” means to lack food or another essential, whereas “stare” means to look fixedly at someone or something.
“Starve” is associated with hunger or deprivation, while “strive” means to make a determined effort.