Thirst - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Thirst :  (noun)
1: a physiological need to drink
2: strong desire for something (not food or drink); "a thirst for knowledge"; "hunger for affection" [syn: hunger] (verb)
1: feel the need to drink
2: have a craving, appetite, or great desire for [syn: crave, hunger, starve, lust]

Based on WordNet 2.0

Thirst : \Thirst\, n. [OE. thirst, [thorn]urst, AS. [thorn]urst, [thorn]yrst; akin to D. dorst, OS. thurst, G. durst, Icel. [thorn]orsti, Sw. & Dan. t["o]rst, Goth. [thorn]a['u]rstei thirst, [thorn]a['u]rsus dry, withered, [thorn]a['u]rsie[thorn] mik I thirst, ga[thorn]a['i]rsan to wither, L. torrere to parch, Gr. te`rsesqai to become dry, tesai`nein to dry up, Skr. t[.r]sh to thirst. [root]54. Cf. Torrid.] 1. A sensation of dryness in the throat associated with a craving for liquids, produced by deprivation of drink, or by some other cause (as fear, excitement, etc.) which arrests the secretion of the pharyngeal mucous membrane; hence, the condition producing this sensation.

Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, and our children . . . with thirst? --Ex. xvii. 3.

With thirst, with cold, with hunger so confounded. --Chaucer.

2. Fig.: A want and eager desire after anything; a craving or longing; -- usually with for, of, or after; as, the thirst for gold. ``Thirst of worldy good.'' --Fairfax. ``The thirst I had of knowledge.'' --Milton.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Thirst : \Thirst\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Thirsted; p. pr. & vb. n. Thirsting.] [AS. [thorn]yrstan. See Thirst, n.] 1. To feel thirst; to experience a painful or uneasy sensation of the throat or fauces, as for want of drink.

The people thirsted there for water. --Ex. xvii. 3.

2. To have a vehement desire.

My soul thirsteth for . . . the living God. --Ps. xlii. 2.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Thirst : \Thirst\, v. t. To have a thirst for. [R.]

He seeks his keeper's flesh, and thirsts his blood. --Prior.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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