famine

Study(14)

/ˈfæmɪn/

noun 4name 1

Collocations

(noun.)

ADJ

great, severe, terrible | widespread

imminent, impending

Worried farmers prepared for an imminent famine after months of severe drought destroyed their crops.

VERB + FAMINE

face, suffer

The drought has forced millions of people in the region to suffer terrible famine.

cause, produce | relieve

FAMINE + VERB

strike

A severe famine struck the region last year, causing thousands of people to flee their homes.

FAMINE + NOUN

relief | victim

PREP

during a/the ~

Many families lost their homes during a severe famine in the 1980s.

PHRASES

a threat of famine

Definitions

noun

Extreme shortage of food in a region.

It was reserved for Christians to torture bread, the staff of life, bread for which children in whole districts wail, bread, the gift of pasture to the poor, bread, for want of which thousands of our fellow beings annually perish by famine; it was reserved for Christians to torture the material of bread by fire, to create a chemical and maddening poison, burning up the brain and brutalizing the soul, and producing evils to humanity, in comparison of which, war, pestilence, and famine, cease to be evils.

Dr. Bhatia pointed out that famine had occurred in all ages and in all societies where means of communication and transport were not developed.

A period of extreme shortage of food in a region.

1986, United States Congress, House Select Committee on Hunger, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Famine and Recovery in Africa The root causes of the current famine are known: poverty, low health standards....

Starvation or malnutrition.

His own flesh, however, which he lost by famine, shall be restored to him by Him who can recover even what has evaporated.

Severe shortage or lack of something.

the Lancashire Cotton Famine

name

The personification of famine, often depicted riding a black horse.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

noun — an acute insufficiency

dearth
shortage

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

feast or famine

A situation in which something is always either extremely abundant or in extremely short supply.

Example Bank

It was reserved for Christians to torture bread, the staff of life, bread for which children in whole districts wail, bread, the gift of pasture to the poor, bread, for want of which thousands of our

Wiktionary

Dr. Bhatia pointed out that famine had occurred in all ages and in all societies where means of communication and transport were not developed.

Wiktionary

The prospect of famine hangs over many areas of the world.

Tatoeba · #20072

Because of the famine, the cattle starved to death.

Tatoeba · #20073

Disease and famine go together.

Tatoeba · #20074

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, famine is marked as dated. Watch for register when choosing this word.

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