hunger

[huhng-ger] /ˈhʌŋ gər/
noun
1.
a compelling need or desire for food.
2.
the painful sensation or state of weakness caused by the need of food:
to collapse from hunger.
3.
a shortage of food; famine.
4.
a strong or compelling desire or craving:
hunger for power.
verb (used without object)
5.
to feel hunger; be hungry.
6.
to have a strong desire.
verb (used with object)
7.
Rare. to subject to hunger; starve.
Idioms
8.
from hunger, Slang. deplorably bad; dreadful:
The styles in coats this winter are from hunger.
Also, strictly from hunger.
Origin
before 900; Middle English; Old English hungor; cognate with German Hunger
Related forms
hungeringly, adverb
half-hungered, adjective
prehunger, noun
Synonyms
4. appetite, greed, lust, itch.
British Dictionary definitions for from hunger

hunger

/ˈhʌŋɡə/
noun
1.
a feeling of pain, emptiness, or weakness induced by lack of food
2.
an appetite, desire, need, or craving: hunger for a woman
verb
3.
to have or cause to have a need or craving for food
4.
(intransitive; usually foll by for or after) to have a great appetite or desire (for)
Word Origin
Old English hungor; related to Old High German hungar, Old Norse hungr, Gothic hūhrus
Word Origin and History for from hunger

hunger

n.

Old English hungor "unease or pain caused by lack of food, craving appetite, debility from lack of food," from Proto-Germanic *hungruz (cf. Old Frisian hunger, Old Saxon hungar, Old High German hungar, Old Norse hungr, German hunger, Dutch honger, Gothic huhrus), probably from PIE root *kenk- (2) "to suffer hunger or thirst." Hunger strike attested from 1885; earliest references are to prisoners in Russia.

v.

Old English hyngran (cf. Old Saxon gihungrjan, Old High German hungaran, German hungern, Gothic huggrjan), from the source of hunger (n.). Related: Hungered; hungering.

from hunger in Medicine

hunger hun·ger (hŭng'gər)
n.

  1. A strong desire or need for food.

  2. The discomfort, weakness, or pain caused by a prolonged lack of food.

  3. A strong desire or craving, as for affection.

Slang definitions & phrases for from hunger

from hunger

adjective phrase

Inferior; unpleasant; contemptible: I started giving the three witches at the next table the eye again. That is, the blonde one. The other two were strictly from hunger

adverb phrase

: playing from hunger in a style to please the uneducated masses

[1930s+ Musicians; fr Yiddish fun hoonger]


hunger

Related Terms

from hunger