perish

English

Etymology

From Middle English perishen, borrowed from Old French perir (via the stem periss- used in various conjugations), from Latin perīre (“pass away, perish”), from per (“through”) + īre (“pass, go”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛɹɪʃ/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɛɹɪʃ
• Homophone: parish (some accents)
• Hyphenation: per‧ish

Verb

perish (third-person singular simple present perishes, present participle perishing, simple past and past participle perished)

1. (intransitive) To decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing.
   • 1881, Tarafa, translated by W. A. Clouston, The Poem of Tarafa

     I consider time as a treasure decreasing every night; and that which every day diminishes soon perishes for ever.

2. (intransitive) To decay in such a way that it cannot be used for its original purpose
   • 2015, Christopher Cumo, Foods that Changed History:

     The difficulty is that fresh foods perish due to the multiplication in them of harmful bacteria.

3. (intransitive) To die; to cease to live.

   Synonyms: decease, pass away; see also Thesaurus:die

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Proverbs 11:10:

     When it goeth well with the righteous, the citie reioyceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.

   • 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, , London: W Taylor , →OCLC:

     […] the ship struck upon a sand, and […] the sea broke over her in such a manner that we expected we should all have perished immediately; and we were immediately driven into our close quarters, to shelter us from the very foam and spray of the sea.

4. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to perish.
   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Friendship”, in The Essayes , 3rd edition, London: Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

     that closeness did impair and a little perish his understanding

   • 1898, William Pett Ridge, By Order of the Magistrate, page 209:

     "Leggo my shou'der, I tell you! Leggo!" He struggled with her, and the customers came forward. "Chrise! I'll perish you, if you ain't careful!" He turned suddenly,...

Derived terms

Related terms

• perishable

Translations

Further reading

• “perish”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “perish”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• hipers, pisher, reship, seriph