/ stɑːv; NAmE stɑːrv/ verb
1.
to suffer or die because you do not have enough food to eat; to make sb suffer or die in this way :
[ v ]
The animals were left to starve to death.
pictures of starving children
The new job doesn't pay as much but we won't starve!
[ vn ]
She's starving herself to try to lose weight.
2.
-starved (in adjectives) not having sth that you need :
supply-starved rebels
—see also cash-starved
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IDIOMS
- be starving (for sth)
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PHRASAL VERBS
- starve sb into sth / into doing sth
- starve sb/sth of sth
- starve sb out (of sth)
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English steorfan to die , of Germanic origin, probably from a base meaning be rigid (compare with stare ); related to Dutch sterven and German sterben .