# Food is to starve as water is to \_\_\_\_\_\_ ??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047 "2013-08-12T17:13:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![olpeculiar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@olpeculiar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/olpeculiar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/1 "2013-08-12T17:13:38Z")
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. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/2 "2013-08-12T17:22:35Z")
dehydration? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/3 "2013-08-12T17:25:51Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > dehydration? That’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/4 "2013-08-12T17:29:49Z")
_Parch_ might be better, as you’re looking for a verb. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/5 "2013-08-12T17:34:15Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > _Parch_ might be better, as you’re looking for a verb. Or _dehydrate_. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/6 "2013-08-12T17:41:15Z")
Dehydrate is probably the best term but ‘dessicate’ fits to some degree as well. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/7 "2013-08-12T17:43:17Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Dehydrate is probably the best term but ‘dessicate’ fits to some degree as well. Dessication comes after death. ---
**Author:** ![olpeculiar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@olpeculiar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/olpeculiar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/8 "2013-08-12T17:51:37Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/9 "2013-08-12T17:53:13Z")
I don’t know. Maybe thirst is better. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/10 "2013-08-12T18:04:37Z")
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”). ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/11 "2013-08-12T18:52:58Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I don’t know. Maybe thirst is better. This would be my choice. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/12 "2013-08-12T19:04:21Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/13 "2013-08-12T23:00:47Z")
My group of friends had this thought at a gaming night recently, and we decided that parch would be the closest in feel to starve. I’m with you that dehydrate just feels a bit clinical. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/14 "2013-08-13T00:45:11Z")
Dessicate sounds worse than dehydrate to me. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/15 "2013-08-13T03:17:44Z")
Wizen? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/16 "2013-08-13T13:05:35Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > Wizen? Not much. Wizen you? ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/17 "2013-08-13T13:06:36Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/18 "2013-08-13T13:13:17Z")
wiki has an entry for Terminal Dehydration. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/19 "2013-08-13T14:28:06Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047/20 "2013-08-13T16:23:52Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > 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. You can starve a fire of oxygen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-is-to-starve-as-water-is-to-______/666047.md?page=2)