perish
verbcommon in dialogue
- Canada//ˈpɛɹɪʃ//
- Australia//ˈpeɹɪʃ//
- New Zealand//ˈpeɹəʃ//
- Scotland//ˈpɛɾɪʃ//
To decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing.
verb
- 1
To decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing.
1881, Tarafa, translated by W. A. Clouston, The Poem of Tarafa I consider time as a treasure decreasing every night; and that which every day diminishes soon perishes for ever.
- 2
To decay in such a way that it cannot be used for its original purpose
The difficulty is that fresh foods perish due to the multiplication in them of harmful bacteria.
- 3
To die; to cease to live.
When it goeth well with the righteous, the citie reioyceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.
[…]the ship struck upon a sand, and […] the sea broke over her in such a manner that we expected we should all have perished immediately; and we were immediately driven into our close quarters, to shelter us from the very foam and spray of the sea.
- 4
obsoleteTo cause to perish.
that closeness did impair and a little perish his understanding
"Leggo my shou'der, I tell you! Leggo!" He struggled with her, and the customers came forward. "Chrise! I'll perish you, if you ain't careful!" He turned suddenly,...
Etymology
From Middle English perishen, borrowed from Old French perir (via the stem periss- used in various conjugations), from Latin perīre (“pass away, perish”), from per (“through”) + īre (“pass, go”).
Forms
- past tense
- perished
- past participle
- perished
- present participle
- perishing
- third person singular
- perishes
perish · To decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing.
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