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hunger strike

noun
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Definition of hunger strike

: refusal (as by a prisoner) to eat enough to sustain life
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Other Words from hunger strike

hunger striker noun

Examples of hunger strike in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In July Cliff Kendall, a 38-year-old doctor, completed a 15-day hunger strike in support of the movement. — The Economist, "How to feed a protest movement: cooking with Extinction Rebellion," 18 Oct. 2019 Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian imprisoned in Iran at the end of a family visit there in 2016, ended a 15-day hunger strike last month. — Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, "Truth or lies? What we know about Iran's claim that it arrested 17 spies working for the CIA," 22 July 2019 He was jailed for civil contempt, and went on hunger strikes in custody. — Matthew Barakat, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Case stalled months after an aborted deportation to Israel," 25 Sep. 2019 An American citizen jailed in Egypt since 2013 amid a crackdown on protestors during a deadly transition in power has died after going on a hunger strike, according to media reports. — Fox News, "An American citizen dies in an Egyptian prison amid hunger strike," 14 Jan. 2020 One young protester, So Sau-chung, began a hunger strike at the Star Ferry Pier in Central. — Antony Dapiran, CNN, "City of dissent: Hong Kong has a proud tradition of protesting to protect its unique identity," 14 June 2019 On Friday, several thousand people gathered in Guwahati in defiance of an official curfew to conduct a day-long hunger strike to protest the citizenship act. — BostonGlobe.com, "NEW DELHI — Protests broke out for a third day in northeastern India over the country’s new citizenship law, forcing the postponement of an upcoming summit between India and Japan.," 14 Dec. 2019 In July, Kumar went on a hunger strike to protest his indefinite detention and looming deportation. — Rozina Ali, The New Yorker, "A Hunger Strike in ICE Detention," 29 Oct. 2019 The mumps and chicken pox outbreaks triggered a hunger strike by detainees in March and led to calls for congressional oversight. — Saja Hindi, The Denver Post, "25 people quarantined at Aurora ICE detention facility due to scabies outbreak," 9 Dec. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hunger strike.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of hunger strike

1889, in the meaning defined above

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Time Traveler for hunger strike

Time Traveler

The first known use of hunger strike was in 1889

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Statistics for hunger strike

Last Updated

17 Feb 2020

Cite this Entry

“Hunger strike.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hunger%20strike. Accessed 23 Feb. 2020.

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More Definitions for hunger strike

hunger strike

noun

English Language Learners Definition of hunger strike

: the act of refusing to eat as a way of showing that you strongly disagree with or disapprove of something

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