Cambridge Dictionaries online Cambridge Dictionaries online

The most popular online dictionary and thesaurus for learners of English

  

hunger

noun (NEED FOR FOOD)
 
 
/ˈhʌŋ.ɡər/ US  /-ɡɚ/

Definition

B1 [U] the feeling you have when you need to eat: I can't believe that that enormous meal wasn't enough to satisfy your hunger. By about nine o'clock she started to feel faint from/with hunger. I often suffer from hunger pangs (= strong feelings of needing something to eat) in the middle of the afternoon.Hungry and thirsty B2 [U] a situation in which the body does not have enough food: All over the world, people die of hunger every day.Hungry and thirsty
(Definition of hunger noun (NEED FOR FOOD) from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

Browse related topics

You are looking at an entry to do with Hungry & thirsty, but you might be interested in these topics from the Eating and feeding topic area:

“hunger” in other dictionaries

Word of the Day

hold water

If a reason, argument or explanation holds water, it is true

Word of the Day

Blog

Read our blog about how the English language behaves.

Learn More

New Words

Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.

Learn More