starvation

noun

star·​va·​tion stär-ˈvā-shən 

1

: the act or an instance of starving

2

: the state of being starved

Examples of starvation in a Sentence

The famine brought mass starvation.

Millions of people face starvation every day.

Recent Examples on the Web

Israel's assault on Gaza since October 2023 has killed over 64,000 people, according to Palestinian health officials, while internally displacing almost all Gaza's population, and set off a starvation crisis. —Jarrett Renshaw, USA Today, 13 Sep. 2025

This lesson plan includes no discussion of how, in the name of socialism and equality, Cold War despots in Russia, Romania, Poland and other Eastern Bloc counties slaughtered innocents, seized property and sunk their countries into starvation-level poverty. —Betsy McCaughey, Boston Herald, 12 Sep. 2025

The film from Outsider Pictures is based on a true story is set in the harrowing confines of a starvation cell in Auschwitz. —Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 12 Sep. 2025

This can lead to starvation and death in some cases. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 10 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1762, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing starvation

• starvation diet
• starvation wages

Rhymes for starvation

• ablation
• bination
• carnation
• cassation
• castration
• causation
• centration
• cessation
• cetacean
• chelation
• citation
• collation

Kids Definition

starvation

noun

star·​va·​tion stär-ˈvā-shən 

: the act or an instance of starving : the state of being starved

Medical Definition

starvation

noun

star·​va·​tion stär-ˈvā-shən 

1

: the act or an instance of starving

2

: the state of being starved