thirst
/θəːst
/noun [mass noun]
1A feeling of needing or wanting to drink something: they quenched their thirst with spring water...
- He no longer quenches his thirst by drinking sodas.
- To quench your thirst, you drink a lot of water and other beverages, and that leads to more frequent urination.
- We moved back to the bar joking and laughing, and ordered drinks to quench our thirst.
Synonyms
thirstiness, dryness;
dehydration
technical polydipsia
archaic drought
1.1Lack of the liquid needed to sustain life: tens of thousands died of thirst and starvation...
- So while most of the city has been left to die of starvation, thirst, heat, disease and violence, a few people have some support.
- When the sea ice receded from the coast of Nunivak Island in Alaska, it left 11 muskoxen trapped on a small islet offshore, doomed to die of starvation or thirst.
- They can be surrounded with food and water but die from starvation or thirst because they have such tiny throats that makes it impossible for them to swallow.
1.2 (usually thirst for) A strong desire for something: his thirst for knowledge was mainly academic...
- The specimen prompted him to focus his thirst for knowledge and love of reading on mineralogy.
- Yet it is his thirst for knowledge, his insatiable desire to get a little better than he was yesterday, that makes him such a delightful curiosity.
- The media should resist the temptation to quench this thirst for sensationalism but there are some who never stand firm.
Synonyms
craving, strong desire, longing, yearning, avidity, hunger, voracity, keenness, eagerness, lust, appetite, passion, love;
itch, fancy, hankering
informal yen
archaic appetency, appetence
verb [no object]
1 (usually thirst for/after) Have a strong desire for something: an opponent thirsting for revenge...
- My spirit thirsts for information and enlightenment.
- After all the temptations of the 20th century and the lack of any prospects for the future, people's souls are thirsting for kitsch.
- The class has been growing every week - everyone is thirsting for information.
Synonyms
crave, want, covet, desire, hunger for/after, lust for/after, hanker for/after, have one's heart set on;
wish, long, have a longing, yearn, be hungry, be itching, pant, be desperate, be consumed with desire
informal have a yen, be dying
archaic be athirst
2 archaic Feel a need to drink something: a few could drink while many thirsted...
- I groaned, and drank as if I had thirsted for days.
- He told her that whoever drank of the water of heaven would never thirst again.
- He hungers, but he is steadfast; he thirsts, but he is steadfast.
Origin
Old English thurst (noun), thyrstan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dorst, dorsten and German Durst, dürsten.