Definition of perish in English:

verb

• 1literary Die, especially in a violent or sudden way.

  ‘a great part of his army perished of hunger and disease’

  More example sentences

  • ‘We found her boat, in pieces on the shore, and I thought she had perished in a violent storm crossing the ocean.’
  • ‘Much of the army perished at the river, and most of the rest were captured.’
  • ‘Malnourished children do not typically perish from hunger but when children are weak, common childhood ailments become killers.’
  • ‘By the end of the 1840s over one million Irish had perished from hunger and associated disease and another two million had emigrated to escape the misery.’
  • ‘An estimated 3.3 million people perished in the war, mainly through war-induced disease and famine.’
  • ‘They survived the unknown hardships of war, only to perish while travelling to a job most Irish people would now turn their noses up at.’
  • ‘Unfortunately, all but eight perished in World War II.’
  • ‘Sixty-eight journalists were killed during World War II, while 38 perished in the Korean War.’
  • ‘Approximately 200,000 Irishmen served in World War 1 and over 60,000 perished in the conflict.’
  • ‘He and Lady Charlotte both tragically perished in a great fire at the temple today.’
  • ‘But, in some cases, some of the people perished as a result of the flooding.’
  • ‘Her pet cat and dog also perished in the flames.’
  • ‘We believe at this time that the boy has probably perished in the crash.’
  • ‘If they had left him he could have perished in the fire.’
  • ‘The house was razed and both daughters, aged 4 and 6, perished in the blaze.’
  • ‘A great many fishermen perished at sea, especially during the brutal winter season.’
  • ‘Forty-nine people were killed in the city and a further 16 perished at sea.’
  • ‘While some manage the perilous crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar separating Spain from Morocco, many others perish trying.’
  • ‘The thousands who perished there certainly deserve the honour and the remembrance.’
  • ‘More than 50 million soldiers and civilians perished in the Second World War.’

  Synonyms

  die, lose one's life, be killed, fall, expire, meet one's death, be lost, lay down one's life, breathe one's last, draw one's last breath, pass away, go the way of all flesh, give up the ghost, go to glory, meet one's maker, go to one's last resting place, cross the great divide

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  1. 1.1Suffer complete ruin or destruction.
     ‘must these noble hopes perish so soon?’
     More example sentences

     • ‘He died in a shabby Roman hotel the year after that regime had perished.’
     • ‘They hoped the ruling party could help save the paper from perishing.’
     • ‘Will it successfully resist or perish due to state repression?’
     • ‘The Republic will surely perish without a heroic effort from all of us.’
     • ‘Her love for him, however, had slowly perished throughout the years of their marriage.’
     • ‘Empires and ideologies have triumphed, perished and fallen into oblivion through the centuries.’
     • ‘Much of the work from the silent era has perished or been lost to future generations.’
     • ‘They are afraid that their party will perish as they risk losing the support of both the ‘deep blue’ and pro-localization factions.’
     • ‘How many beautiful friendships may perish prematurely because of people losing contact this way, as a result of some virus or other computer misfortune?’
     Synonyms

     come to an end, die, die away, be destroyed, cease to exist, disappear, vanish, fade, dissolve, evaporate, melt away, pass into oblivion, wither

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• 2(of rubber, food, etc.) lose its normal qualities; rot or decay.

  ‘an abandoned tyre whose rubber had perished’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Some argue that organic fruit and vegetables perish quickly, but there's no need to waste food that has reached the end of its shelf life.’
  • ‘Since you're looking for foods that don't perish too fast and can be eaten without silverware, I suggest plant-based foods for lunches.’
  • ‘Leaks due to cracked or perished rubber make accurate measurement of blood pressure difficult because the fall in mercury cannot be controlled.’
  • ‘It's worth jacking the car up and having a look at the brake lines (which carry fluid to the brakes), in particular the flexible rubber hoses which can crack and perish.’
  • ‘The tree's bright green foliage contrasted with the swing, whose wood had long perished, cut off from its source of life, and was now numb to the world.’
  • ‘Except the dry leaves, they leave all vegetation to grow and perish in the field itself to enrich the soil.’
  • ‘Oh, how foolish we are to labor for the bread that perishes.’

  Synonyms

  go bad, go off, spoil, rot, go mouldy, moulder, putrefy, decay, decompose

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• 3be perishedBritish informal Be suffering from extreme cold.

  ‘I was perished with cold before the end of the day’

  More example sentences

  • ‘He was not imaginative enough to ask himself whether the man might not be perishing with cold and hunger.’