to suffer or die from extreme hunger, or to deprive someone of food or basic needs.
From Old English 'steorfan,' meaning 'to die.' Originally the word referred to death from cold as much as hunger, but the meaning narrowed over time to focus specifically on dying from lack of food.
The word 'starve' used to mean dying from cold, which shows how languages drop old meanings—Old English and Middle English speakers would find our modern use oddly limited compared to what the word once conveyed.
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