thirst

CEFRB1

/θɜːst/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The feeling of needing or wanting a drink.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A want and eager desire (for something); a craving or longing.

Examples

  • The man died of thirst in a dry country.

  • Our people thirst for independence.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • /fɜːst/
  • /θeːst/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The condition producing the sensation of thirst.

  2. A sensation of dryness in the throat associated with a craving for liquids, produced by deprivation of drink, or by some other cause (such as fear, excitement, etc.) which stops the secretion of the pharyngeal mucous membrane.

  3. Sexual lust.

More examples

In context

  • He had quite a thirst on and so headed to his favourite Dublin pub.

  • If you go out in the desert for long without water, the thirst can drive you mad.

  • We developed a great thirst during our hike.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

After running under the hot sun for hours, he had a strong blank for water.

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

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English thirst, thurst, from Old English þurst, from Proto-West Germanic *þurstu, from Proto-Germanic *þurstuz, from Proto-Indo-European *ters- (“dry”). Germanic cognates include Old High German thurst, Middle High German durst, German Durst, Old Saxon thurst, Old Dutch thursti, Middle Dutch dorst, dorste, Dutch dorst, Old Norse þorsti (Swedish törst, Icelandic þorsti, Faroese tosti, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål tørst, Norwegian Nynorsk tørste). Indo-European cognates include Ancient Greek τέρσομαι (térsomai), Albanian djersë (“sweat”), Sanskrit तृष्णा (tṛṣṇā, “desire; thirst”), Sanskrit तृष्यति (tṛ́ṣyati), Latin terra, Latin torridus.