starve

as inabstain

as inwant
as indiet
as infast

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Synonyms for starve

verb hold back from doing

Antonyms for starve

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Word Origin & History

Old English steorfan "to die" (past tense stearf, past participle storfen), from Proto-Germanic *sterban "be stiff" (cf. Old Frisian sterva, Dutch sterven, Old High German sterban "to die," Old Norse stjarfi "tetanus"), from PIE root *ster- "stiff, rigid" (cf. Greek sterphnios "stiff, rigid," sterphos "hide, skin," Old Church Slavonic strublu "strong, hard;" see stare).

The conjugation became weak in English by 16c. The sense narrowed to "die of cold" (14c.); meaning "to kill with hunger" is first recorded 1520s (earlier to starve of hunger, early 12c.). Intransitive sense of "to die of hunger" dates from 1570s. German cognate sterben retains the original sense of the word, but the English has come so far from its origins that starve to death (1910) is now common.

Example Sentences for starve

We would do anything in our power for Sergeant Wilde and for the cause, but we cannot starve!'

Old, a lot of them, and gettin' well to go out and starve, and—My God!

You may hang a man if you like, but you have no right to starve him.

Content to starve, content to freeze, if only he need not be carried into captivity.

Leaving me here hungry and thirsty and tired, to starve, for anything they care!

Mr. Vernon's heart, hungry for the first time, had to starve.

We starve, and deserve to starve, if we do not work to get them.

And as for money, that is so you will not starve while you read my books and listen to me talk.

Then do you want to go back and stay on the dock and starve?

They saw their own countrymen who had been fighting for them, starving, and they let them starve!

starve

Synonyms for starve

Antonyms for starve

More words related to starve

abstain

abstaining

diet

fast

fasting

want

starve

Synonyms .css-1u0ksf7{color:#d9d9d9;}for starve

Antonyms for starve

More words related to starve

.css-1unrqcp{color:inherit;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}abstain

abstaining

diet

fast

fasting

want

Synonyms for starve

abstain