Emily Dickinson Lexicon

STARVE, v.i. [Sax. stearfian, to perish with hunger or cold; G. sterben, to die, either by disease or hunger, or by a wound; D. sterven, to die. Qu. is this from the root of Dan. tarv, Sw. tarf, necessity, want?]

1. To perish; to be destroyed. Fairfax. [In this general sense, obsolete.]
2. To perish or die with cold; as, to starve with cold. [This sense is retained in England, but not in the United States.]
3. To perish with hunger. [This sense is retained in England and the United States.]
4. To suffer extreme hunger or want; to be very indigent. Sometimes virtue starves, while vice is fed. – Pope.