starve
/stɑɹv/verb
starve is spelled S-T-A-R-V-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.3 times per million words in written English, the 14,509th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, starve means “To die because of lack of food or of not eating” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in starve?
| Letters | 6: S-T-A-R-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 3.3 times per million words; the 14,509th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is starve?
Starve appears 3.3 times per million words in written English, the 14,509th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce starve?
- UK /stɑːv/
- US /stɑɹv/
Starve has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-starve.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with starve?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as starve from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹv/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of starve
- starves present, singular, he/she/it
- starving participle, present
- starved past, participle, singular, he/she/it, plural
- sterve
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does starve mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To die because of lack of food or of not eating.
- 2
To suffer severely because of lack of food or of not eating.
- 3
To be very hungry.
I was starving so I wrote S.O.S. on the desert island using rocks.
- 4
To kill or attempt to kill by depriving of food.
- 5
To make suffer severely by depriving of food.
- 6
To force a combatant to submit or surrender by depriving of food, as in a targeted siege.
If they refuse to surrender the garrison, we'll just starve them out.
- 7
datedTo force a population center to submit or surrender by depriving of food, as in sieges in international armed conflicts.
Some historians have since classified the Siege of Leningrad as a genocide due to the intentional destruction of the city and the systematic starvation of its civilian population.
- 8
To deprive of nourishment or of some vital component.
The uncaring parents starved the child of love.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Starve in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | mourir de faim , crever de faim, crever la dalle, avoir l'estomac dans les talons , affamer |
| German | verhungern, Hungers sterben , verhungern lassen, aushungern |
| Portuguese | morrer de fome , estar morrendo de fome, estar faminto, estar louco de fome , esfomear |
| Spanish | morir de hambre , hambrear |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does starve come from?
From Middle English sterven (“to die, perish”), from Old English steorfan (“to die, perish”), from Proto-West Germanic *sterban, from Proto-Germanic *sterbaną (“to become stiff, die”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)terp- (“to lose strength, become numb, be motionless”); or from Proto-Indo-European *sterbʰ- (“to become stiff”), from *ster- (“stiff”); or a conflation of the aforementioned.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).