I realized the other day that I couldn’t think of a single-word equivalent for starvation when referring to water instead of food. “Starving” carries a certain degree of mortality, distinguishing it from mere “hunger”. But I couldn’t think of a parallel word when referring to water and thirst.
Notice that I’m not looking for “dying of thirst”. I’m wondering if there is a single word to describe that condition, the same way that “starving” describes the condition of dying from a lack of food.
Yeah, I guess dehydration is the best answer. I can’t explain it, but it doesn’t seem to have the same “feel” that “starvation” does - “dehydration” almost sounds too clinical. “Starvation” seems to arouse emotion in a way that “dehydration” does not. But maybe that’s just too much exposure to those “sponsor a starving child in Africa” commercials.
I can’t argue, though - “dehydration” probably is the best parallel to “starvation.” Thanks all…
There is an obsolete English word “forthirst” which means “to die of thirst”.
From Middle English forthyrsten, from Old English *forþyrstan (“to be athirst”), from Proto-Germanic *fur- (“for-”), *þurstijaną (“to thirst”), equivalent to for- + thirst. Cognate with Low German verdörsten (“to forthirst”), German verdursten (“to die of thirst”), Danish fortørste (“to forthirst”).
I don’t agree with “thirst.” The analogy would be food is to hunger for “thirst” to work.
Food:starve::water:dehydrate is the best, although “parch” may work, too. “Forthirst” sounds like a direct analogy, too, but is obsolete, as noted above.
If you don’t ingest enough food, you will starve.
If you don’t ingest enough water, you will _____ ?
“Dehydrate” works best there and is the most direct analogy.
I agree with the thirsters. Dehydrate is just a physical process that happens to inanimate objects as well as living things, and it happens by degrees, the initial stages of which are imperceptible. Thirst, like starve, only happens to living beings and at its essence is the sensation that something is not right and needs to be remedied.
I’m willing to consider “thirst,” but I can’t find any example sentence where “water” and “thirst” neatly substitute for “food” and “starve.” (Like in your sentence, “thirst, like starve,” sounds wrong to me. It should be “thirst, like hunger” or “thirst, like starvation.”) In all cases I could think of, either “water” and “dehydrate” are the cleanest substitutions, or “food” and “hunger” work.
No, if the word were “starvation” instead of “starve,” “thirst” wight work a little better (although I might still have qualms about it), but not with the word “starve”
Also, “thirst” is a desire, like “hunger.” “To thirst” is to crave liquids; “to hunger” is to crave food. “Starve” and “dehydrate” can be separate from desire.
Not that “dehydrate” is a 100% perfect analogy, either, but it’s the best we got.