perish

CEFRC1

/ˈpɛɹɪʃ/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To die, be destroyed, or come to an end.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To decay in such a way that it cannot be used for its original purpose

Examples

  • If a nuclear war were to break out, mankind would perish.

  • That whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈpeɹɪʃ/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To die; to cease to live.

  2. To decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing.

  3. To cause to perish.

More examples

In context

  • We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish together as fools.

  • 1881, Tarafa, translated by W. A. Clouston, The Poem of Tarafa I consider time as a treasure decreasing every night; and that which every day diminishes soon perishes for ever.

  • The difficulty is that fresh foods perish due to the multiplication in them of harmful bacteria.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Without water and food, the stranded hikers will blank within a few days.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English perishen, borrowed from Old French perir (via the stem periss- used in various conjugations), from Latin perīre (“pass away, perish”), from per (“through”) + īre (“pass, go”).