Dictionary-Definition.com :: Thirst definition

Definition of 'thirst'

noun

A physiological need to drink [syn: thirst, thirstiness]

noun

Strong desire for something (not food or drink); "a thirst for knowledge"; "hunger for affection" [syn: hunger, hungriness, thirst, thirstiness]

verb

Feel the need to drink

verb

Have a craving, appetite, or great desire for [syn: crave, hunger, thirst, starve, lust]

From: GCIDE

From: GCIDE

Thirst \Thirst\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Thirsted; p. pr. & vb. n. Thirsting.] [AS. [thorn]yrstan. See Thirst, n.]
1. To feel thirst; to experience a painful or uneasy sensation of the throat or fauces, as for want of drink. [1913 Webster]
The people thirsted there for water. --Ex. xvii. 3. [1913 Webster]
2. To have a vehement desire. [1913 Webster]
My soul thirsteth for . . . the living God. --Ps. xlii. 2. [1913 Webster]

From: GCIDE

Thirst \Thirst\ (th[~e]rst), n. [OE. thirst, [thorn]urst, AS. [thorn]urst, [thorn]yrst; akin to D. dorst, OS. thurst, G. durst, Icel. [thorn]orsti, Sw. & Dan. t["o]rst, Goth. [thorn]a['u]rstei thirst, [thorn]a['u]rsus dry, withered, [thorn]a['u]rsie[thorn] mik I thirst, ga[thorn]a['i]rsan to wither, L. torrere to parch, Gr. te`rsesqai to become dry, tesai`nein to dry up, Skr. t[.r]sh to thirst. [root]54. Cf. Torrid.]
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. [1913 Webster]
Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, and our children . . . with thirst? --Ex. xvii. 3. [1913 Webster]
With thirst, with cold, with hunger so confounded. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]