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Famish

1. To starve, kill, or destroy with hunger.

2. To exhaust the strength or endurance of, by hunger; to distress with hanger. And when all the land of egypt was famished, the people cried to pharaoh for bread. (Cen. Xli. 55) The pains of famished Tantalus hell feel. (Dryden)

3. To kill, or to cause to suffer extremity, by deprivation or denial of anything necessary. And famish him of breath, if not of bread. (Milton)

4. To force or constrain by famine. He had famished paris into a surrender. (Burke)

Origin: oe. Famen; cf. OF. Afamer, L. Fames. See famine, and cf. Affamish.