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Famish   Listen
verb
Famish  v. t.  (past & past part. famished; pres. part. famishing)  
1.
To starve, kill, or destroy with hunger.
2.
To exhaust the strength or endurance of, by hunger; to distress with hanger. "And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread." "The pains of famished Tantalus he'll feel."
3.
To kill, or to cause to suffer extremity, by deprivation or denial of anything necessary. "And famish him of breath, if not of bread."
4.
To force or constrain by famine. "He had famished Paris into a surrender."


Famish  v. i.  
1.
To die of hunger; to starve.
2.
To suffer extreme hunger or thirst, so as to be exhausted in strength, or to come near to perish. "You are all resolved rather to die than to famish?"
3.
To suffer extremity from deprivation of anything essential or necessary. "The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Famish" Quotes from Famous Books



... something every day amongst ourselves to keep them from starving."[2265] Only too thankful are they when the local administration gives them something to eat, or allows others to give them something. In many places it strives to famish them, or takes delight in annoying them. In March, 1791, the department of Doubs, in spite of the entreaties of the district, reduces the pension of the Visitant nuns to one hundred and one livres for the choristers, and fifty for the lay-sisters. ...
— The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 2 (of 6) - The French Revolution, Volume 1 (of 3) • Hippolyte A. Taine
... the courtier good-naturedly. "What, do my eyes deceive me? No, it is the festive and luxurious Perigord. Perigord, listen. I famish. I languish. I ...
— The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales • Bret Harte
... the poor! Behold yon famish'd lad No shoes, no hose, his wounded feet protect; With limping gait, and looks so dreamy-sad, He wanders onward, stopping to inspect Each window, stored with articles of food; He yearns but to enjoy ...
— Home-Life of the Lancashire Factory Folk during the Cotton Famine • Edwin Waugh
... and Providence, Restrain thy bursting and indignant tears; With tenderest might unerring Wisdom steers Through those mad seas the bark of Innocence. Doth thy heart burn for vengeance on the deed— Some barbarous deed wrought out by cruelty On woman, or on famish'd childhood's need, Yea, on these fond dumb dogs—doth thy heart bleed For pity, child of sensibility? Those tears are gracious, and thy wrath most right Yet patience, patience; there is comfort still; The Judge is just; ...
— The Complete Prose Works of Martin Farquhar Tupper • Martin Farquhar Tupper
... her hill the Moon, all crimson, rides, 235 And his red eyes the slinking Water hides; Then all is hush'd; the bushes rustle near, And with strange tinglings sings her fainting ear. —Vex'd by the darkness, from the piny gulf Ascending, nearer howls the famish'd wolf, 240 While thro' the stillness scatters wild dismay, Her babe's small cry, that leads him ...
— The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth - Volume 1 of 8 • Edited by William Knight


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