famine

/ˈfæmɪn/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈfæmɪn/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈfa-mən/ (ame, mw)

famine — noun

  • faminesingular
  • faminesplural

1. a long time when very many people in a region have far too little food to eat, o

1.名詞B2
釋義

a long time when very many people in a region have far too little food to eat, often because crops have failed or war has stopped food supplies, leading to widespread hunger and deaths.

例句

A severe famine struck Ethiopia in 1984, killing hundreds of thousands of villagers.

famine struck + [place] for naming where a famine occurred

Failed rains and crop disease caused a terrible famine across northern Kenya.

cause + famine showing what triggered the shortage

同義詞
  • starvation

    the physical state of suffering from no food; famine is the wider event that causes starvation

  • food shortage

    neutral and less severe; a shortage can be brief, while a famine implies deaths

  • hunger crisis

    modern news term; often used before a situation officially meets the famine definition

反義詞

文法句型

a famine in [place]

during the famine

famine spread across [region]

用法筆記

Usually refers to a region-wide food crisis, not personal hunger. Often paired with country names or a specific year (the Irish famine, the 1984 famine).

常見錯誤

❌I have famine after the gym.
✅I am very hungry after the gym.
💡famine describes a regional food crisis, not personal hunger between meals.