famish

1. (obsolete, transitive) To starve (to death); to kill or destroy with hunger.Examples: "Even so did Corellius Rufus, another grave senator, by the relation of Plinius Secundus, Epist. lib.1, epist.12, famish himself to death […]"obsoletetransitive

2. (transitive) To exhaust the strength or endurance of, by hunger; to cause to be very hungry.Examples: "And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread."; "The pains of famished Tantalus [he] shall feel."transitive

3. (transitive) To kill, or to cause great suffering to, by depriving or denying anything necessary.Examples: "And famish him of breath, if not of bread?"transitive

4. (transitive) To force, control, or constrain by famine.Examples: "He had […]famished Paris into a surrender."transitive

5. (intransitive) To die of hunger; to starve to death.Examples: "Some ſay that Rauens foſter forlorne children, / The vvhilſt their ovvne birds famiſh in their neſts: / Oh be to me though thy hard hart ſay no, / Nothing ſo kinde but ſomething pittifull."intransitive

6. (intransitive) To suffer extreme hunger or thirst, so as to be exhausted in strength, or to nearly perish.Examples: "You are all resolved rather to die than to famish?"intransitive