Starve Definition

stärv

starved, starves, starving

verb

starved, starves, starving

To die from lack of food.

Webster's New World

To suffer or become weak from hunger.

Webster's New World

To be ravenously hungry.

Webster's New World

To cause to starve by depriving of food.

Webster's New World

To cause to suffer from a lack or need of something specified.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Origin of Starve

From Middle English sterven, from Old English steorfan (“to die"), from Proto-Germanic *sterbanÄ… (“to become stiff, die"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)terp- (“to lose strength, become numb, be motionless"); or from Proto-Indo-European *sterbÊ°- (“to become stiff"), from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“stiff"); or a conflation of the aforementioned. Cognate with Scots sterve (“to die, perish"), Saterland Frisian stjerwa (“to die"), West Frisian stjerre (“to die"), Dutch sterven (“to die"), Low German staarven (“to die"), starven, German sterben (“to die"), Icelandic stirfinn (“peevish, froward"), Albanian shterp (“sterile, unproductive, barren land").

From Wiktionary
Middle English sterven to die from Old English steorfan ster-¹ in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition