starve

starve — verb

1. to become so weak that you die because you have too little to eat, or to force a

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB1
Definition

to become so weak that you die because you have too little to eat, or to force a person or animal into this state by withholding food.

Example

During the drought, the cattle began to starve because the pastures had turned to dust.

intransitive: starve (without object)

Hao's parents starved themselves to save enough food for their children during the famine.

transitive: starve + reflexive pronoun

Common collocations
  • starve to death
  • starve yourself
  • starve someone/something
  • starve of food
Synonyms
  • famish

    archaic or literary; very rarely used in modern everyday English

  • go hungry

    less severe; refers to missing a meal rather than prolonged starvation

  • perish

    broader meaning — can refer to death from any cause, not just lack of food

Antonyms
  • feed

    to give food to someone who needs it

  • nourish

    to provide food that sustains growth and health

Grammar Patterns

starve (intransitive)

starve + person/animal + to death

starve + noun (transitive)

be starved (passive)

Usage Note

Frequently used in both transitive patterns (where someone is actively denied food) and intransitive patterns (describing a natural outcome of food shortage). The passive construction 'be starved' is also common, especially in humanitarian contexts.

Common Mistakes

She starved to die because there was no food.
She starved to death because there was no food.
The fixed collocation is 'starve to death', not 'starve to die'.
The prisoners were starved from food.
The prisoners were starved of food.
Use 'of', not 'from', when someone is deprived of something.

2. to feel extremely hungry — used informally as an exaggeration when you have not

2.verbintransitiveB1
Definition

to feel extremely hungry — used informally as an exaggeration when you have not eaten for a while.

Example

After a six-hour hike, Hannah announced she was starving and needed food immediately.

progressive aspect: 'was starving'

Felipe had skipped lunch and was absolutely starving by the time dinner was served.

collocation: absolutely starving

Common collocations
  • absolutely starving
  • completely starving
  • I'm starving
Synonyms
  • be ravenous

    slightly more formal, but equally strong; suggests a deep hunger

  • be famished

    informal, similar register; common in British English

Grammar Patterns

be starving (continuous/progressive form)

starving for (informal)

feel like + subject + is starving

Usage Note

Almost always used in the continuous/progressive form ('I am starving', 'she was starving'), not the simple present ('I starve'). Avoid this sense in formal writing, where 'very hungry' is preferred.

Common Mistakes

I starve — when will lunch be ready?
I am starving
when will lunch be ready?' — This sense requires the continuous/progressive form.

3. to be kept from getting enough of something important that you need for your emo

3.verbtransitive / intransitiveB2
Definition

to be kept from getting enough of something important that you need for your emotional, social, or physical well-being — for example, a child starved of love, or a school starved of funding.

Example

Children who are starved of affection often struggle to form close relationships later in life.

passive: be starved of + abstract noun (affection)

The country's rural schools are starved of resources, with few textbooks and no computers.

passive: be starved of + concrete resource

Common collocations
  • starved of attention
  • starved of funding
  • starved of resources
  • starved for companionship
  • starved of love
Synonyms
  • lack

    broader meaning; applies to anything from food to skill to money

  • want

    formal or literary; similar to 'lack' but slightly old-fashioned

  • be deprived of

    close in meaning; expresses the same sense of not having something needed

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

be starved of + noun

starve + noun + of + noun

starve for + noun

Usage Note

Commonly appears in the pattern 'be starved of [something]', where the missing element is usually non-material (affection, attention, investment, creativity). Distinguish from sense 1: this meaning does not involve food or physical starvation.

Common Mistakes

The city is starved from investment.
The city is starved of investment.
The required preposition after 'starved' in this sense is 'of', not 'from'.
She starved for food.' (when literal starvation is meant)
She starved for food.
Actually, if food is scarce, use sense 1: 'She starved (to death).' This sense (sense 3) typically concerns non-food needs.
Phrasal verbs

starve into

phrasal verb

To force someone to do something by preventing them from getting food.

The rebels tried to starve the government into surrender.

They starved the prisoners into giving up information.

starve into doing

phrasal verb

To force someone to do something by depriving them of food.

The captors starved him into revealing the secret code.

She was starved into signing the contract after days without food.

starve of

phrasal verb

To deprive someone or something of something necessary.

The neglected garden was starved of water and sunlight.

Children starved of affection may develop emotional problems.

starve out

phrasal verb

To force someone to leave a place by preventing them from getting food.

The army surrounded the city to starve out the enemy troops.

They starved the rats out of the warehouse by sealing all food.

Idioms

be starving (for something)

idiom

To be extremely hungry.

After the long hike, Maya was starving for a big meal.

Aren't you starving? We haven't eaten since breakfast.

Word family

  • starvation
    nounB2
  • starved
    adjectiveB2
  • starving
    adjectiveB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

'Starve' (sense 1) is the core English verb for dying or suffering from lack of food — it covers both the deliberate act of withholding food and the natural result of famine. 'Famish' means the same but is now very rare in everyday speech, appearing mostly in historical novels or poetry. 'Go hungry' is much milder: it describes missing a meal or two, not a life-threatening situation ('Many families went hungry during the war' suggests hardship, not imminent death). 'Perish' is broader — it means to die from any cause (cold, disease, old age), not specifically hunger. 'Deprive' extends beyond food to any necessity and does not imply death — you can deprive someone of sleep without them dying. Use 'starve' when the context involves food shortage and severe suffering or death.

famishgo hungryperishdeprive ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

Phrases

  • starve to death
  • starve yourself

Prepositions

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word 'starve' comes from Old English 'steorfan', which simply meant 'to die'. It is related to German 'sterben' (to die) and Dutch 'sterven' (to die). Over time, the meaning narrowed from dying in general to dying specifically from lack of food. By the Middle English period, 'starve' already carried the hunger meaning, though traces of the older 'die' sense survive in phrases like 'starve of cold' (now very old-fashioned). The figurative sense (starved of love, attention) developed in the 1800s as an extension of the idea of deprivation.