Adjacent Words

Perish definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PER'ISH, v.i.[L. pereo, supposed to be compounded of per and eo, to go; literally, to depart wholly.]
1. To die; to lose life in any manner; applied to animals. Men perish by disease or decay, by the sword, by drowning, by hunger or famine, etc.
2. To die; to wither and decay; applied to plants.
3. To waste away; as, a leg or an arm has perished.
4. To be in a state of decay or passing away.
Duration, and time which is part of it, is the idea we have of perishing distance.
5. To be destroyed; to come to nothing.
Perish the lore that deadens young desire.
6. To fail entirely or to be extirpated. 2 Kings 9.
7. To be burst or ruined; as, the bottles shall perish.
Luke 5.
8. To be wasted or rendered useless. Jeremiah 9.
9. To be injured or tormented. 1 Corinthians 8.
10. To be lost eternally; to be sentenced to endless misery. 2 Peter 2.
PER'ISH, v.t. To destroy. [Not legitimate.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: 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" [syn: die, decease, perish, go, exit, pass away, expire, pass, kick the bucket, cash in one's chips, buy the farm, conk, give-up the ghost, drop dead, pop off, choke, croak, snuff it] [ant: be born]

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English perisshen, from Anglo-French periss-, stem of perir, from Latin perire, from per- detrimentally + ire to go — more at per-, issue Date: 13th century intransitive verb 1. to become destroyed or ruined ; cease to exist <recollection of a past already long since perished — Philip Sherrard> <guard against your mistakes or your attempts (perish the thought) to cheat — C. B. Davis> 2. chiefly British deteriorate, spoil transitive verb 1. chiefly British to cause to die ; destroy 2. weaken, benumb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 intr. be destroyed; suffer death or ruin. 2 a intr. (esp. of rubber, a rubber object, etc.) lose its normal qualities; deteriorate, rot. b tr. cause to rot or deteriorate. 3 tr. (in passive) suffer from cold or exposure (we were perished standing outside). Phrases and idioms: perish the thought an exclamation of horror against an unwelcome idea. Derivatives: perishless adj. Etymology: ME f. OF perir f. L perire pass away (as PER-, ire go)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Perish Per"ish, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Perished; p. pr. & vb. n. Perishing.] [OE. perissen, perisshen, F. p['e]rir, p. pr. p['e]rissant, L. perire to go or run through, come to nothing, perish; per through + ire to go. Cf. Issue, and see -ish.] To be destroyed; to pass away; to become nothing; to be lost; to die; hence, to wither; to waste away. I perish with hunger! --Luke xv. 17. Grow up and perish, as the summer fly. --Milton. The thoughts of a soul that perish in thinking. --Locke.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Perish Per"ish, v. t. To cause perish. [Obs.] --Bacon.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(perishes, perishing, perished) 1. If people or animals perish, they die as a result of very harsh conditions or as the result of an accident. (WRITTEN) Most of the butterflies perish in the first frosts of autumn. VERB: V 2. If a substance or material perishes, it starts to fall to pieces and becomes useless. (mainly BRIT) Their tyres are slowly perishing. = disintegrate VERB: V • perished ...tattered pieces of ancient, perished leather. ADJ: usu ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. 1. Decay, waste, wither, shrivel, moulder. 2. Pass away, be destroyed, be ruined, be lost, come to nought, go to destruction. 3. Die, expire, decease, cease to exist, lose life, pass away.

Moby Thesaurus

age, antiquate, be annihilated, be consumed, be destroyed, be done for, be gone, be killed, be lost, be no more, be wiped out, become extinct, become obsolete, break down, cease, cease to be, cease to exist, cease to live, collapse, come to naught, come to nothing, conk out, corrupt, croak, crumble, date, decay, decease, decline, decompose, dematerialize, demise, depart, depart this life, die, die away, die out, disappear, disintegrate, dispel, disperse, dissipate, dissolve, do a fade-out, dwindle, end, erode, evanesce, evaporate, exit, expire, fade, fade away, fade out, fall, fall asleep, flee, fly, fossilize, fust, go, go away, go out, go under, grow old, hide, leave no trace, leave the scene, lose currency, melt, melt away, molder, obsolesce, outdate, part, pass, pass away, pass on, pass out, pass over, peg out, peter out, put off mortality, putrefy, quit this world, retire from sight, return to dust, rot, run out, rust, sink, sink away, spoil, stop breathing, succumb, suffer an eclipse, superannuate, turn, up and die, vanish, vanish from sight, waste, waste away, wear away, yield the ghost