• vi. 饿死；挨饿；渴望
• vt. 使饿死；使挨饿

来自古英语 steorfan,死去，死掉，字面意思为身体变僵硬，来自 Proto-Germanic*sterban,变僵 硬，来自 PIE*ster,僵的，硬的，固定的，词源同 startle,sterile.后词义弱化为慢慢饿死，再弱 化为使挨饿，饥饿。

starve

starve: [OE] Starve means etymologically ‘be stiff’ – it goes back to a prehistoric Germanic base *star-, *ster- ‘be stiff’, which also produced English starch, stare, etc. The ‘stiffness’ of a corpse led to its use for ‘die’ – a meaning which it retains in the related German sterben and Dutch sterven. In English, however, from the 12th century onwards, starve gradually narrowed down in meaning to ‘dying from cold’ (which survived into the modern era in northern dialects) and ‘dying from hunger’.
=> starch, stare, stork

starve (v.)

Old English steorfan "to die" (past tense stearf, past participle storfen), literally "become stiff," from Proto-Germanic *sterban "be stiff" (cognates: Old Frisian sterva, Old Saxon sterban, Dutch sterven, Old High German sterban "to die," Old Norse stjarfi "tetanus"), from PIE root *ster- (1) "stiff, rigid" (see stereo-).

The conjugation became weak in English by 16c. The sense narrowed to "die of cold" (14c.); transitive meaning "to kill with hunger" is first recorded 1520s (earlier to starve of hunger, early 12c.). Intransitive sense of "to die of hunger" dates from 1570s. German cognate sterben retains the original sense of the word, but the English has come so far from its origins that starve to death (1910) is now common.

1. The animals were left to starve to death.

那些动物只能等着饿死。

来自《权威词典》

2. We shall wait the enemy out, and watch them starve to death.

我们将以等待来拖垮敌人, 看着他们饿死.

来自《简明英汉词典》

3. You can't see your sister starve without trying to help her!

你不能让你姐姐挨饿而不想法去帮助她!

来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4. They decided to starve the enemy out.

他们决定使敌人受饿而出来.

来自《简明英汉词典》

5. Don't starve the kitten.

别饿着小猫.

来自《现代汉英综合大词典》