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# starvation

«starvation» in Mova's school dictionary: **Serious suffering or death caused by having little or no…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (starvation — uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Serious suffering or death caused by having little or no food for a long time. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starvation/#m1)

2) (informal, exaggerated) Being very hungry: «I'm dying of starvation!» said jokingly before tea. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starvation/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In history and geography lessons, starvation happens in famines, sieges and wars, like the Irish Great Famine (1845–1852) or the Holodomor in Ukraine (1932–1933); in news, aid groups bring food to people facing starvation. In science, the body without food uses its fat and then muscle. In everyday jokes children exaggerate hunger. Phrases: «starvation wages» (very low pay), «die of starvation».

### examples

- During the famine, many people died of starvation. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starvation/#x1)
- Aid agencies are working to prevent starvation in the war zone. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starvation/#x2)
- The Holodomor caused the starvation of millions of Ukrainians. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starvation/#x3)
- Animals in the snow can face starvation in a hard winter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starvation/#x4)
- "Is tea ready? I'm dying of starvation!" [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starvation/#x5)
- Using hunger and starvation as a weapon of war is against international law. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starvation/#x6)
- To get down was utterly impossible, it seemed as if he must die of starvation. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starvation/#x7)

### note

Uncountable; from «starve» (drop e, add -ation). Hunger is the feeling; starvation is the dangerous state. Jokey use is exaggeration, not literal.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «starvation» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/starvation/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.