starve
verbVerb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they starve | |
| he / she / it starves | |
| past simple starved | |
| past participle starved | |
| -ing form starving |
- [intransitive, transitive]
to suffer or die because you do not have enough food to eat; to make somebody suffer or die in this way （使）挨饿，饿死 The animals were left to starve to death. 那些动物只能等着饿死。 pictures of starving children 展示饥饿儿童的图片 The new job doesn't pay as much but we won't starve! 新工作的工资没有过去多，不过我们不至于挨饿！ - starve somebody/yourself
She's starving herself to try to lose weight. 她试图通过节食来减肥。 Many of the prisoners looked half starved. 许多囚犯看起来饿得半死。
Extra ExamplesTopics Social issuesb2He locked them in a room and left them to starve. 他把他们锁在一间屋子里，任由他们捱饿。 She refused food and literally starved herself to death. 她拒绝进食，把自己活活饿死了。 The poor cat was half starved. 这只可怜的猫已经饿得半死了。 Their policies will leave innocent children starving in the streets. 他们的政策将让无辜的儿童流落街头，忍饥捱饿。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- slowly
- literally
- leave somebody to
- for
- of
- be half starved
- keep somebody from starving
- starve in the streets
- …
- -starved
(in adjectives 构成形容词 not having something that you need 缺乏…的；急需…的 supply-starved rebels 补给匮乏的反叛者
Word OriginOld English steorfan ‘to die’, of Germanic origin, probably from a base meaning ‘be rigid’ (compare with stare); related to Dutch sterven and German sterben.
Idioms
be starving (for something)
(also be starved especially in North American English)
- (informal)
to feel very hungry 饿得很