Starve \Starve\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Starved; p. pr. & vb. n. Starving.]

[OE. sterven to die, AS. steorfan; akin to D. sterven, G. sterben, OHG. sterban, Icel. starf labor, toil.]

1. To die; to perish. [Obs., except in the sense of perishing with cold or hunger.]

--Lydgate.

In hot coals he hath himself raked . . . Thus starved this worthy mighty Hercules. --Chaucer.

2. To perish with hunger; to suffer extreme hunger or want; to be very indigent.

Sometimes virtue starves, while vice is fed. --Pope.

3. To perish or die with cold. --Spenser.

Have I seen the naked starve for cold? --Sandys.

Starving with cold as well as hunger. --W. Irving.

Note: In this sense, still common in England, but rarely used of the United States.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)