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starveling. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
starveling, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
starveling in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
starveling you have here. The definition of the word
starveling will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
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English
Etymology
starve + -ling
Noun
starveling (plural starvelings)
- One who is thin from lack of food.
c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :If I hang, I'll make a fat pair of gallows; for if I hang, old Sir John hangs with me, and thou knowest he is no starveling.
1979, V. S. Naipaul, A Bend in the River:As for the starveling rebels of our region, they soon began to reappear in town, more starved and abject, their blackened rags hanging on them […]
Adjective
starveling (comparative more starveling, superlative most starveling)
- Starving; suffering from starvation.
- Meagre; scanty.
1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 128:[A] few meetings in the cape-broom, a starveling allowance of kisses in a very ill-advised publicity.
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