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famished - 3 dictionary results

fam⋅ished

  [fam-isht]
Use famished in a Sentence
–adjective
extremely hungry: to be famished after a hike; famished, homeless multitudes.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME; see famish, -ed 2

Synonyms:
See hungry.

fam⋅ish

  [fam-ish]
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object) Archaic.
1. to suffer or cause to suffer extreme hunger; starve.
2. to starve to death.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME famisshe, equiv. to famen to starve (< AF, MF afamer < VL *affamāre, equiv. to L af- af- + famāre, deriv. of famēs hunger) + -isshe -ish 2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To famished
fam·ish   (fām'ĭsh)   
v.   fam·ished, fam·ish·ing, fam·ish·es

v.   tr.
  1. To cause to endure severe hunger.
  2. To cause to starve to death.
v.   intr.
  1. To endure severe deprivation, especially of food.
  2. To undergo starvation and die.

[Middle English famishen, alteration of famen, from Old French afamer, from Vulgar Latin *affamāre : Latin ad-, ad- + Latin famēs, hunger.]
fam'ish·ment n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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