perish

per·ish  (prsh)

v. per·ished, per·ish·ing, per·ish·es

v.intr.

1. To die or be destroyed, especially in a violent or untimely manner: "Must then a Christ perish in torment in every age to save those who have no imagination?" George Bernard Shaw.

2. To pass from existence; disappear gradually: "Man will go down into the pit, and all his thoughts will perish" A.J. Balfour.

3. Chiefly British To spoil or deteriorate.

v.tr.

To bring to destruction; destroy: "Many foul blights/Perish'd his hard won gains" Thomas Hood.

Idiom:

perish the thought

Used to express the wish that one not even think about something.

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[Middle English perishen, from Old French perir, periss-, to perish, from Latin perre : per-, per- + re, to go; see ei- in Indo-European roots.]

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perish

Verb

1. to be destroyed or die

2. to cause to suffer: we were perished with cold

3. to rot or cause to rot: to prevent your swimsuit from perishing, rinse it in clean water before it dries [Latin perire to pass away entirely]

Thesaurus

Verb

1.

perish - pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life; "She died from cancer"; "The children perished in the fire"; "The patient went peacefully"; "The old guy kicked the bucket at the age of 102" croak, decease, die, drop dead, buy the farm, cash in one's chips, give-up the ghost, kick the bucket, pass away, snuff it, pop off, expire, conk, exit, choke, go, pass abort - cease development, die, and be aborted; "an aborting fetus" change state, turn - undergo a transformation or a change of position or action; "We turned from Socialism to Capitalism"; "The people turned against the President when he stole the election" asphyxiate, stifle, suffocate - be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen; "The child suffocated under the pillow" buy it, pip out - be killed or die; drown - die from being submerged in water, getting water into the lungs, and asphyxiating; "The child drowned in the lake" predecease - die before; die earlier than; "She predeceased her husband" conk out, go bad, break down, die, fail, give out, give way, break, go - stop operating or functioning; "The engine finally went"; "The car died on the road"; "The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town"; "The coffee maker broke"; "The engine failed on the way to town"; "her eyesight went after the accident" starve, famish - die of food deprivation; "The political prisoners starved to death"; "Many famished in the countryside during the drought" die - suffer or face the pain of death; "Martyrs may die every day for their faith" fall - die, as in battle or in a hunt; "Many soldiers fell at Verdun"; "Several deer have fallen to the same gun"; "The shooting victim fell dead" succumb, yield - be fatally overwhelmed

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perish

verb 1. die, be killed, be lost, expire, pass away, lose your life, decease, cark it Austral., N.Z. (slang)

verb 2. be destroyed, fall, decline, collapse, disappear, vanish, go under

verb 3. rot, waste away, break down, decay, wither, disintegrate, decompose, moulder

Translations

perish [ˈpɛrɪʃ] vi → perecer (= decay); echarse a perder

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perish [ˈpɛrɪʃ] vi → périr, mourir (= decay); se détériorer

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perish [ˈpɛrɪʃ] vi (= die) → umkommen; [rubber, leather etc] → verschleißen

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perish [ˈpɛrɪʃ] vi → perire, morire (= decay); deteriorarsi