Meaning of "hunger" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD HUNGER

Old English hungor; related to Old High German hungar, Old Norse hungr, Gothic hūhrus.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF HUNGER

hunger  [ˈhʌŋɡə]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF HUNGER

Hunger is a verb and can also act as a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb hunger in English.

WHAT DOES HUNGER MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Hunger

Hunger is the physical sensation of desiring food. When politicians, relief workers and social scientists talk about people suffering from hunger, they usually refer to those who, for sustained periods, are unable to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs. Throughout history, a large proportion of the world's population have experienced frequent severe hunger. In many cases, this resulted from food supply disruptions caused by war, plagues, or adverse weather. For the first few decades after World War II, technological progress and enhanced political cooperation suggested it might be possible to substantially reduce the number of people suffering from hunger. While progress was uneven, by 2000 the threat of extreme hunger subsided for many of the world's people. Until 2006, the average international price of food had been largely stable for several decades. In the closing months of 2006, however, prices began to rise rapidly. By 2008, rice had more than tripled in price in some regions, and this severely affected developing countries. Food prices fell in early 2009, but rose to another record high in 2011, and have since decreased slightly.

Definition of hunger in the English dictionary

The first definition of hunger in the dictionary is a feeling of pain, emptiness, or weakness induced by lack of food. Other definition of hunger is an appetite, desire, need, or craving. Hunger is also to have or cause to have a need or craving for food.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO HUNGER

PRESENT

Present

I hunger

you hunger

he/she/it hungers

we hunger

you hunger

they hunger

Present continuous

I am hungering

you are hungering

he/she/it is hungering

we are hungering

you are hungering

they are hungering

Present perfect

I have hungered

you have hungered

he/she/it has hungered

we have hungered

you have hungered

they have hungered

Present perfect continuous

I have been hungering

you have been hungering

he/she/it has been hungering

we have been hungering

you have been hungering

they have been hungering

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I hungered

you hungered

he/she/it hungered

we hungered

you hungered

they hungered

Past continuous

I was hungering

you were hungering

he/she/it was hungering

we were hungering

you were hungering

they were hungering

Past perfect

I had hungered

you had hungered

he/she/it had hungered

we had hungered

you had hungered

they had hungered

Past perfect continuous

I had been hungering

you had been hungering

he/she/it had been hungering

we had been hungering

you had been hungering

they had been hungering

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will hunger

you will hunger

he/she/it will hunger

we will hunger

you will hunger

they will hunger

Future continuous

I will be hungering

you will be hungering

he/she/it will be hungering

we will be hungering

you will be hungering

they will be hungering

Future perfect

I will have hungered

you will have hungered

he/she/it will have hungered

we will have hungered

you will have hungered

they will have hungered

Future perfect continuous

I will have been hungering

you will have been hungering

he/she/it will have been hungering

we will have been hungering

you will have been hungering

they will have been hungering

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would hunger

you would hunger

he/she/it would hunger

we would hunger

you would hunger

they would hunger

Conditional continuous

I would be hungering

you would be hungering

he/she/it would be hungering

we would be hungering

you would be hungering

they would be hungering

Conditional perfect

I would have hunger

you would have hunger

he/she/it would have hunger

we would have hunger

you would have hunger

they would have hunger

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been hungering

you would have been hungering

he/she/it would have been hungering

we would have been hungering

you would have been hungering

they would have been hungering

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you hunger
we let´s hunger
you hunger

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to hunger

Past participle

hungered

Present Participle

hungering

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «HUNGER»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «hunger» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of hunger

ache · appetence · appetite · craving · desire · emptiness · esurience · famine · greediness · hungriness · itch · lust · malnutrition · ravenousness · starvation · the munchies · thirst · undernourishment · voracity · yearning · yen

TRANSLATION OF HUNGER

Find out the translation of hunger to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of hunger from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «hunger» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 饥饿
• Translator English - Spanish: hambre
• English: hunger
• Translator English - Hindi: भूख
• Translator English - Arabic: جُوعٌ
• Translator English - Russian: голод
• Translator English - Portuguese: fome
• Translator English - Bengali: ক্ষুধা
• Translator English - French: faim
• Translator English - Malay: Lapar
• Translator English - German: Hunger
• Translator English - Japanese: 空腹
• Translator English - Korean: 굶주림
• Translator English - Javanese: Keluwen
• Translator English - Vietnamese: sự đói
• Translator English - Tamil: பட்டினி
• Translator English - Marathi: उपासमार
• Translator English - Turkish: açlık
• Translator English - Italian: fame
• Translator English - Polish: głód
• Translator English - Ukrainian: голод
• Translator English - Romanian: foame
• Translator English - Greek: πείνα
• Translator English - Afrikaans: honger
• Translator English - Swedish: hunger
• Translator English - Norwegian: sult

10 QUOTES WITH «HUNGER»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word hunger.

1

Diane Ackerman

Because we can't escape our ancient hunger to live close to nature, we encircle the house with lawns and gardens, install picture windows, adopt pets and Boston ferns, and scent everything that touches our lives.

2

Aristophanes

Hunger knows no friend but its feeder.

3

Matthew Barney

I've always thought of the project as a sort of sexually driven digestive system, that it was a consumer and a producer of matter. And it is desire driven, rather than driven by hunger or anything like that.

4

Mario Batali

Just because you eat doesn't mean you eat smart. It's hard to beat a $1.99 wing pack of three at a fast-food restaurant - it's so cheap - but that wing pack isn't feeding anyone, it's just pushing hunger back an hour.

5

Mario Batali

Unlike curing cancer or heart disease, we already know how to beat hunger: food.

6

Paul Bloom

The enjoyment we get from something is powerfully influenced by what we think that thing really is. This is true for intellectual pleasures, such as the appreciation of paintings and stories, and it is true as well for pleasures that seem simpler and more animalistic, such as the satisfaction of hunger and lust.

7

Les Brown

If you take responsibility for yourself you will develop a hunger to accomplish your dreams.

8

Gro Harlem Brundtland

An important lever for sustained action in tackling poverty and reducing hunger is money.

9

Sylvia Mathews Burwell

Walmart is committed to fighting hunger in America every day.

10

Sylvia Mathews Burwell

When nonprofits, companies and consumers work together, we believe we can make long term, positive change for the millions of people in America who struggle with hunger.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «HUNGER»

Discover the use of hunger in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to hunger and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

The Hunger Games

New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Collins delivers equal parts suspense and philosophy, adventure and romance, in this searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present.

Suzanne Collins, 2009

Hunger (Webster's French Thesaurus Edition)

By using a running English-to-French thesaurus at the bottom of each page, this edition of Hunger by Knut Hamsun was edited for three audiences.

Knut Hamsun, 2008

Hunger

Hunger—the hunger of not knowing where one’s next meal is coming from, and the hunger for sex and love.

Muḥammad Bisāṭī, 2008

Hunger

Like chocolates in a beautiful box, some of these stories have soft centres, and some have hard. All are by one of our funniest and most passionate food writers, who swears he will be hungry until the day he dies.

Terry Durack, 2000

Hunger: A Novella and Stories

“Spare and haunting tales that ask ordinary questions about that extraordinary emotion: love.”—Chicago Tribune The novella and five stories that make up this collection reveal the lives of immigrant families haunted by lost loves: a ...

Lan Samantha Chang, 2009

Hunger

Set during Hitler's siege of Leningrad, Elise Blackwell's beautiful debut novel is the deeply moving story of one man's confrontation with his own morality.

Elise Blackwell, 2013

Hunger: An Unnatural History

Every day, we wake up hungry. Every day, we break our fast. Hunger is both a natural and an unnatural human condition. In Hunger, Sharman Apt Russell explores the range of this primal experience.

Sharman Apt Russell, 2008

Hunger: A Modern History

Rigorously researched, Hunger: A Modern History draws together social, cultural, and political history, to show us how we came to have a moral, political, and social responsibility toward the hungry.

James Vernon, 2009

Hunger: The Biology and Politics of Starvation

A timely and provocative look at the role political developments and the biology of nutrition play in world famine

John R. Butterly, Jack Shepherd, 2010

Hunger

Six genetically-engineered sharks, each over twenty feet long, escape from the SeaLife Institute and terrorize the Florida Keys

William R. Dantz, 1992

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «HUNGER»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term hunger is used in the context of the following news items.

Visit the North Carolina Locations Where 'The Hunger Games' Was …

“Good Morning America” took a trip to the real-life spots that brought the fictional world of “The Hunger Games” to the big screen. Panem serves ... «ABC News, Jul 15»

Yankees' top prospect's 'hunger' finally matching talent | NJ.com

"The thirst, the desire, the hunger has matched the talent now," Cashman said at Fenway Park in Boston last weekend. Sanchez is hitting .258 ... «NJ.com, Jul 15»

Monitors report 'alarming' hunger in Blue Nile community | Radio …

The Koma Ganza community in southern Blue Nile State is suffering from severe hunger amid worsening market and agriculture conditions in ... «Radio Tamazuj, Jul 15»

Boys and Girls Clubs of Broward aim to defeat summer hunger - Sun …

Defeating kids' summer hunger, one meal at a time. Defeating Food Insecurity program gives food to families. The Boys & Girls Clubs of ... «Sun Sentinel, Jul 15»

Video: Fury as shots fired over coffin of hunger striker Patsy O'Hara's …

Shots have been fired over the coffin of Peggy O'Hara, the mother of INLA hunger striker, Patsy O'Hara. Ads by Google. A masked gunman ... «Belfast Telegraph, Jul 15»

Dine Out & Help End Childhood Hunger At Taste Of The Nation …

MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) – Nobody likes to be hungry which is why some of South Florida's top chefs will be serving up some delicious ... «CBS Local, Jul 15»

Marathon Hunger Striker Seeks Release From Palestinian Jail …

The office of the U.N. human rights chief says it is "seriously concerned" about a 30-year-old Palestinian who has observed a hunger strike for ... «ABC News, Jul 15»

Syntactic foam sandwich fills hunger for lightweight yet strong …

A team of researchers reports success in pioneering tests of a layered material with a lightweight metal matrix syntactic foam core that holds ... «Phys.Org, Jul 15»

Hunger Games' Willow Shields debuts new haircut as she steps out …

Hunger Games star Willow Shields debuts new chic sleek haircut as she steps out ... She is growing up on-screen in the Hunger Games series. «Daily Mail, Jul 15»

Investing in a future free from hunger Vatican Radio

Highlighting the historic opportunity to become the "Zero Hunger ... to end hunger and to reach the most vulnerable families," Graziano da Silva ... «Vatican Radio, Jul 15»