starveling

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   literary: a person, animal, or plant made thin and weak by lack of food

   The rescued dog looked like a starveling after weeks without enough food.

2. 2
   adj

   literary: starving, poorly nourished, or meager in quantity or quality

   The tenant family survived on a starveling allowance of bread.

Formed in the sixteenth century from starve + -ling, a suffix used for a person or creature characterized by something. It first named one suffering from hunger and later also became an adjective for anything scant, impoverished, or suggestive of starvation.

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