To famish means to suffer from extreme hunger, or to cause someone to experience that kind of intense, painful hunger. When you're famished, your stomach feels completely empty and demands food immediately, a desperate, painful hunger that goes far beyond ordinary mealtime appetite.

People might exaggerate by saying “I'm famished!” when they're really just quite hungry, but the word originally described serious, desperate hunger. In historical famines, when crops failed and food ran out, entire populations were famished. During long sieges in medieval warfare, armies would surround a castle and try to famish the people inside by cutting off their food supply.

You'll mostly encounter this word in its past participle form: famished. After a long hike without snacks, you might feel absolutely famished. After playing outside all afternoon, you might come home famished and ready to eat a huge meal.