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famine
[ fam-in ]
noun
- extreme and general scarcity of food, as in a country or a large geographical area.
- any extreme and general scarcity.
Synonyms: , , , ,
- extreme hunger; starvation.
famine
/ ˈæɪ /
noun
- a severe shortage of food, as through crop failure or overpopulation
- acute shortage of anything
- violent hunger
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of famine1
Idioms and Phrases
see feast or famine .Example Sentences
Earlier this month, the head of Unrwa said a "man-made famine" was "tightening its grip" across Gaza.
In 1958, Mao Zedong’s “Great Leap Forward” pushed to radically increase “efficiency” in agriculture while modernizing Chinese society, producing the worst famine in human history.
“A famine of beauty, honey. My eyes are starving for beauty!”
The UN has warned of famine in the city, something that has already happened at the nearby Zamzam camp, which is home to more than 500,000 displaced people.
India, for centuries, was wracked by famines and chronic food shortages, leaving generations to survive on meagre nutrition.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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