thirst Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a physiological need to drink
    thirstiness.
  2. noun strong desire for something (not food or drink)
    hungriness; thirstiness; hunger.
    • a thirst for knowledge
    • hunger for affection
  3. verb feel the need to drink
  4. verb have a craving, appetite, or great desire for
    lust; starve; crave; hunger.

WordNet

Thirst noun
Etymology
OE. thirst, þurst, AS. þurst, þyrst; akin to D. dorst, OS. thurst, G. durst, Icel. þorsti, Sw. & Dan. törst, Goth. þaúrstei thirst, þaúrsus dry, withered, þaúrsieþ mik I thirst, gaþaírsan to wither, L. torrere to parch, Gr. te`rsesqai to become dry, tesai`nein to dry up, Skr. t&rsdot;sh to thirst. *54. Cf. Torrid.
Definitions
  1. A sensation of dryness in the throat associated with a craving for liquids, produced by deprivation of drink, or by some other cause (as fear, excitement, etc.) which arrests the secretion of the pharyngeal mucous membrane; hence, the condition producing this sensation.
    Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, and our children . . . with thirst? Ex. xvii. 3.
    With thirst, with cold, with hunger so confounded. Chaucer.
  2. Fig.: A want and eager desire after anything; a craving or longing; -- usually with for, of, or after; as, the thirst for gold. "Thirst of worldy good." Fairfax. "The thirst I had of knowledge." Milton.
Thirst transitive verb
Etymology
AS. yrstan. See Thirst, n.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Thirsted; present participle & verbal noun Thirsting
Definitions
  1. To feel thirst; to experience a painful or uneasy sensation of the throat or fauces, as for want of drink.
    The people thirsted there for water. Ex. xvii. 3.
  2. To have a vehement desire.
    My soul thirsteth for . . . the living God. Ps. xlii. 2.
Thirst transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To have a thirst for. R.
    He seeks his keeper's flesh, and thirsts his blood. Prior.

Webster 1913