Library / English Dictionary

EMACIATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Grow weak and thin or waste away physically

Example:

She emaciated during the chemotherapy

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "emaciate" is one way to...):

change state; turn (undergo a transformation or a change of position or action)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

emaciation (extreme leanness (usually caused by starvation or disease))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to grow thin or weak

Example:

The treatment emaciated him

Synonyms:

emaciate; macerate; waste

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "emaciate" is one way to...):

debilitate; drain; enfeeble (make weak)

Cause:

emaciate (grow weak and thin or waste away physically)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

emaciation (extreme leanness (usually caused by starvation or disease))

Credits

 Context examples: 

My cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)