[f. STARVE v. + -ATION. Except flirtation (1718), this is the oldest of the many sbs. in -ation formed on native Eng. vbs.
App. first used with reference to the bill of 1775 ‘for restraining Trade and Commerce with the New England Colonies,’ which the Opposition denounced as intended to combat the rebellion by producing a famine in which the innocent would suffer equally with the guilty. The remark of Mr. Dundas (Hansard’s Deb., 6 March 1775), that he was ‘afraid’ that the famine spoken of ‘would not be produced by this Act,’ excited great indignation, and in 1781–7 Walpole and Mason call him by the nicknames ‘Starvation Dundas’ and ‘Starvation.’ The statement of Mitford (Corr. Walpole & Mason, 1851, II. 396) that Dundas himself used the word is in itself not improbable, but appears to lack confirmation. The verb starve occurs several times in the reports of speeches on the bill, but the sb. does not appear.]
1. The action of starving or subjecting to famine.
1778. Lady Craven, in Ann. Reg., Characters, etc. 204. Behold, our ministers … Who talk of peace, of taxes, and starvation.
1782. W. Mason, in Corr. Walpole & Mason (1851), II. 310. If it be true that Jenkinson has been closeted … and if … he comes into any ostensible office, I shall not wait for the advent of Starvation from Edinburgh to settle my judgment.
1791–3. in Spirit Publ. Jrnls. (1799), I. 260. Starvation. A curious experiment, which, after being tried in America and France, has succeeded tolerably well at home.
1854. Milman, Lat. Chr., II. 395. Somewhat later he alludes to the starvation of Rome.
attrib. 1802. in Spirit Publ. Jrnls., VI. 371. I have a long catalogue to offer to your choice…. 7. The Starvation War. 8. The Financial War [etc.].
2. The condition of being starved or having too little food to sustain life or health.
1802. Sporting Mag., XX. 292. Here are no symptoms of starvation, the hounds are well fed.
1813. Wellington, in Gurw., Desp. (1838), X. 367. The French … live in countries in Spain, in which the Spaniards starve; and … the starvation of the Spanish armies is more burthensome to the country than the plentiful mode of living of the French.
1822. Sporting Mag., IX. 218. The parish horses must otherwise actually have perished by starvation.
1866. Mrs. Oliphant, Agnes, I. xvii. 213–4. But then was not a married curate the emblem of starvation all the world over?
1867. H. Latham, Black & White, 37. When Lee surrendered, we had come to simple starvation.
b. attrib.
1867. J. Campbell, Balmerino, III. i. 166. The minister was placed on a starvation allowance.
1886. Besant, Childr. Gibeon, II. xxiii. In allowing an employer to pay starvation wages to girls.
1897. Mary Kingsley, W. Africa, 313. The two or three Kruboys on a starvation beach can fairly well fend for themselves.
c. quasi-advb. So as to cause starvation. colloq.
1892. Kipling, Barrack-room Ballads, Tommy, 18. Yes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap.
d. transf. Deprivation or insufficient supply of something necessary to life.
1866. Huxley, Physiol., iv. § 31. 103. Two deadly influences … are co-operating; one is the deprivation of oxygen, the other is the excessive accumulation of carbonic acid in the blood. Oxygen starvation and carbonic acid poisoning … are at work together. Ibid., vi. § 7. 142. Whether an animal be herbivorous or carnivorous, it begins to starve from the moment its vital food-stuffs consist of pure amyloids or fats, or any mixture of them. It suffers from what may be called nitrogen starvation.
1891. G. S. Woodhead, Bacteria, 117. In one case the yeast-cells die of starvation, although large quantities of sugar are present.
3. dial. (See quots.)
1893. Wiltsh. Gloss., Add., Starvation cold, extremely cold.
1899. N. W. Linc. Gloss., Starvation, suffering from cold.
