starvation B2 Topic:People & Society US /stɑɹˈveɪʃən/ UK /stɑːˈveɪʃən/ See IPA manual Freq #13129 Meanings 1 noun Severe suffering or death caused by not having enough food. Thousands of people died of starvation during the famine. 2 noun The act of deliberately depriving people of food. The army used starvation to force the city to surrender. 3 noun A severe shortage of something needed to work properly. Engine failure can result from fuel starvation. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · severe suffering or death... inanitionfamishment 2 noun · the act of deliberately... starving Word family Forms starvations Derived forms antistarvationoverstarvationprestarvationsemistarvationstarvational Etymology AI details From starve + -ation. Topics People & Society External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # starvation **Type:** Word **Level:** B2 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /stɑɹˈveɪʃən/ **IPA (UK):** /stɑːˈveɪʃən/ **Frequency rank:** 13129 ## Meanings 1. Severe suffering or death caused by not having enough food. 2. The act of deliberately depriving people of food. 3. A severe shortage of something needed to work properly. ## Examples - Thousands of people died of starvation during the famine. - The army used starvation to force the city to surrender. - Engine failure can result from fuel starvation. ## Derived Forms - antistarvation - overstarvation - prestarvation - semistarvation - starvational ## Etymology From starve + -ation. ## AI Etymology Starvation is from starve + -ation. In present-day use, it can mean severe suffering or death caused by not having enough food, or the act of deliberately depriving people of food. Derived formations include antistarvation, overstarvation, prestarvation, semistarvation, starvational. ## Topics - People & Society markdown