starvationnoun [ U ]
uk/stɑːˈveɪ.ʃən/us/stɑːrˈveɪ.ʃən/C2 the state of having no food for a long period, often causing death:
20 million people face starvation unless a vast emergency aid programme is launched.
The animals had died of starvation.
figurative They pay starvation wages (= not enough money to live on).
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Hungry & thirsty
- (I'm so hungry), I could eat a horse idiom
- appetite
- be gasping idiom
- eat
- eat like a horse idiom
- empty
- gasp
- hunger
- hungry
- make sb's mouth water idiom
- munchies
- parched
- ravenous
- smack
- smack your lips idiom
- starved
- starving
- thirst
- thirsty
- unquenchable
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Death and dying