as in shortage
a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number
there's a famine of good general practitioners in many rural areas
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of famine
Israel is facing international criticism for the starvation in Gaza and what U.N.-backed experts say is an unfolding famine.
—
Aya Batrawy, NPR, 10 Aug. 2025
The standards for categorizing a situation as famine are exceedingly high and hard to document in the best of conditions.
—Elizabeth Shackelford, Chicago Tribune, 8 Aug. 2025
Children in Gaza are suffering and dying at an unprecedented rate as the threat of famine looms.
—Sarah Ferguson, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2025
Though there has been an outcry over the staggering number of civilian deaths since the start of the war, increasingly graphic coverage of the Gaza famine has engendered new levels of outrage on both sides of the political spectrum.
—Lorraine Ali, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for famine
Aya Batrawy, NPR, 10 Aug. 2025
The standards for categorizing a situation as famine are exceedingly high and hard to document in the best of conditions.
—Elizabeth Shackelford, Chicago Tribune, 8 Aug. 2025
Children in Gaza are suffering and dying at an unprecedented rate as the threat of famine looms.
—Sarah Ferguson, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2025
Though there has been an outcry over the staggering number of civilian deaths since the start of the war, increasingly graphic coverage of the Gaza famine has engendered new levels of outrage on both sides of the political spectrum.
—Lorraine Ali, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for famine
Recent Examples of Synonyms for famine
Noun
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There is a solution already before Congress: the End Kidney Deaths Act (H.R. 2687), a bipartisan bill that could finally end the kidney shortage.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
23 Aug. 2025
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Left unaddressed, this could deepen the motherhood penalty and contribute to workforce shortages of women.—
Christine Michel Carter,
Forbes.com,
23 Aug. 2025
Noun
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To Flores' family and outreach groups, the lack of urgency sends a troubling message: missing unhoused people aren't a priority.—
Gina Lee Castro,
jsonline.com,
30 Aug. 2025
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Whitmer's lawyers argued in response that those who brought the lawsuit lack standing and that Michigan law doesn't impose a deadline on the governor for calling a special election.—
Clara Hendrickson,
Freep.com,
30 Aug. 2025
Noun
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But Merz said the cost of those methods often fall on the ranchers, who are dealing with a lot of other pressures like wildfires and drought.—
Nathan Rott,
NPR,
21 Aug. 2025
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Sacramento won 48 games to secure the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference in 2022-23, ending the longest playoff drought in NBA history.—
Jason Anderson,
Sacbee.com,
21 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Famine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/famine. Accessed 2 Sep. 2025.
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