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

There are two questions Gazans have usually asked each other since the start of this campaign of unrelenting and systematic destruction, starvation, displacement and mass killing. —Literary Hub, 10 Nov. 2025

As Hoffine noted, hunger often kills not just through starvation, but by weakening immune systems to the point where people can't fight off disease. —Nurith Aizenman, NPR, 5 Nov. 2025

Nearly 400,000 people are facing starvation, as defined by Integrated Food Security Phase Classification’s Phase 5 threshold. —David Miliband, Time, 4 Nov. 2025

Humans are also biologically programmed to survive periods of starvation and stress, Erlanger said. —CNN Money, 4 Nov. 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