GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Famish (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Famished (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Famishing.] [OE. famen; cf. OF. afamer, L. fames. See Famine, and cf. Affamish.]
   1. To starve, kill, or destroy with hunger.  Shak.
   
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   2. To exhaust the strength or endurance of, by hunger; to distress with hanger.
   
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   And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Cen. xli. 55.
   
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   The pains of famished Tantalus he'll feel. Dryden.
   
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   3. To kill, or to cause to suffer extremity, by deprivation or denial of anything necessary.
   
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   And famish him of breath, if not of bread. Milton.
   
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   4. To force or constrain by famine.
   
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   He had famished Paris into a surrender. Burke.
   
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2.       
   Famish, v. i.
   1. To die of hunger; to starve.
   
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   2. To suffer extreme hunger or thirst, so as to be exhausted in strength, or to come near to perish.
   
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   You are all resolved rather to die than to famish? Shak.
   
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   3. To suffer extremity from deprivation of anything essential or necessary.
   
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   The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish. Prov. x. 3.
   
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