starvation

/stɑrˈveɪʃɪn/

/stɑˈveɪʃən/

Other forms: starvations

Starvation is what happens if you don’t eat for days or weeks and your body starts to shut down. Extreme poverty, drought and other dire circumstances can contribute to starvation.

Starvation can be the result of war or famine, leading to the deaths of large numbers of people. Any organism that depends on food for energy is at risk of starvation when there isn't enough to eat. Starvation is thought by some to have entered the language in 1775 during the American Revolution, when a member of the British Parliament suggested starvation as a way to make the American rebels submit.

Definitions of starvation

1. noun

   a state of extreme hunger resulting from lack of essential nutrients over a prolonged period
   synonyms: famishment

   type of:

   hunger, hungriness

   a physiological need for food; the consequence of food deprivation
2. noun

   the act of depriving of food or subjecting to famine
   “the besiegers used starvation to induce surrender”

   synonyms: starving

   type of:

   deprivation, privation

   act of depriving someone of food or money or rights