Past tense of 'clem,' meaning to starve or suffer from hunger and cold.
From Middle English 'clemen,' possibly from Old English 'clam' (to bind or constrain). The word evolved to mean being bound or constrained by hunger, eventually meaning to starve or freeze.
This is a wonderfully archaic English word that appears in regional dialects, especially in Northern England and Scotland, reminding us that 'starving' used to be expressed through this visceral verb—it sounds almost onomatopoetic, like the clenching of an empty stomach.
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