1
as in dies
to stop living
12 people perished in the plane crash
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in disintegrates
chiefly British
to go through decomposition
after being left out in the summer heat, the milk perished and had to be thrown out
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of perishes
Every soldier Harry would have saved on a transport during the war perishes too.
—
Margaret Heidenry, Vanity Fair, 24 Dec. 2025
Factory ships deplete fisheries in a matter of years and an inordinate amount of sea life also perishes in their nets.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 12 Aug. 2025
Margaret Heidenry, Vanity Fair, 24 Dec. 2025
Factory ships deplete fisheries in a matter of years and an inordinate amount of sea life also perishes in their nets.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for perishes
Verb
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Several seconds later, my character dies on the grass (right alongside the clearly visible script).—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Mar. 2026
-
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and it’s estimated that one person dies from cardiovascular disease every 34 seconds.—
Jacqueline Howard,
CNN Money,
13 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The café disintegrates, white-peach mimosas lost forever.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
-
If the American state disintegrates, future postmortems are unlikely to focus much on measles, or on rotavirus vaccination rates.—
Vann R. Newkirk II,
The Atlantic,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The rules of the game state that, if a head of a household falls, the next person in succession must take their place and fight, or their entire family line will get blown up by Satan.—
Jada Yuan,
Vulture,
14 Mar. 2026
-
By the time the curtain falls, dozens of audience members have become part of the show.—
Hanna Wickes,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Another process, thermogenic hydrogen formation, occurs in deep sedimentary basins when organic material decomposes under high temperatures, roughly 480 to 930 degrees Fahrenheit (250 to 500 degrees Celsius).—
Promise Longe,
The Conversation,
26 Feb. 2026
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The clever bit is when these fuels flow through the Draper engine and encounter a catalyst that decomposes the hydrogen peroxide into high-pressure oxygen and steam.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The Shakespearean classic focuses on Macbeth, a Scottish general who makes his prophecy of becoming king a reality but then succumbs to madness.—
Alyson Rodriguez,
Dallas Morning News,
29 Jan. 2026
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Her sexuality is a source of conflict for her family, and the pressure leads to the painful breakup with her girlfriend, Rosie (Jess Gabor), who succumbs to family expectations.—
Robert Lang,
Deadline,
17 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
This state then decays through a two-step cascade, releasing two photons in rapid succession.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Mar. 2026
-
But Daye naturally decays at the end of each season, unless she is rebuilt using the branches, berries, and blooms of the next.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The big differences between the labs probably reflect the fact that, as Italians like to say, the fish rots from the head.—
Caroline Mimbs Nyce,
New Yorker,
10 Feb. 2026
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Bacterial plant diseases include speck (a winter-surviving infection that attacks tomatoes), canker (which damages fruit trees including those producing apples and peaches), and blight (which rots melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, beans, and more).—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
10 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Perishes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perishes. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
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