# thirst

Pronunciation: say "THURST" US /θɝst/, UK /θɜːst/

## Noun

1. A dry feeling in the throat together with a craving for drink, caused by lack of liquid or by something else, such as fear or excitement, that dries the throat.
   - Simple: The dry feeling in your throat when you want something to drink.
   - _Nothing quenches a summer thirst like a glass of cold lemonade._
   - _Waiting backstage, the singer felt a dry, nervous thirst that no amount of water seemed to ease._
2. A strong, eager desire for something.
   - Simple: A strong wish to have or do something.
   - _Years of war had left the country with a deep thirst for peace._
   - _The team's thirst for revenge was obvious from the opening whistle._
3. The bodily state of needing water that produces the feeling of thirst.
   - Simple: The state of needing water, which makes you feel thirsty.
   - _The shipwrecked sailors suffered terribly from thirst until the rain came._
   - _Across the drought-stricken plains, cattle were dying of thirst._
4. Sexual desire; lust.
   - Simple: A strong sexual wish for someone.
   - _Twenty years into their marriage, her thirst for him had not faded._
   - _The novel is full of forbidden thirsts and secret meetings in hotel rooms._

## Verb

5. To be thirsty; to need something to drink.
   - Simple: To be thirsty and need something to drink.
   - _Out on the salt flats, the horses thirsted and grew weak._
   - _Patients recovering from surgery often thirst but are allowed only small sips at first._
6. To have an intense desire for something.
   - Simple: To want something very much.
   - _After years of censorship, the public thirsted for honest reporting._
   - _Young players who thirst for a place on the team train harder than anyone._

## Origin

From Middle English thirst, thurst, from Old English þurst, from Proto-Germanic *þurstuz and ultimately Proto-Indo-European *ters- (“dry”). It is related to German Durst and Dutch dorst, and more distantly to Sanskrit tṛṣṇā (“desire; thirst”) and Latin terra and torridus.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/thirst (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).