This center , formed of indefinite molecules , began to revolve around its own axis during its gradual condensation ; then , following the immutable laws of mechanics , in proportion as its bulk diminished by condensation , its rotary motion became accelerated , and these two effects continuing , the result was the formation of one principal star , ...
famine - a severe shortage of food (as through crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and starvation and death. calamity, catastrophe, tragedy, disaster, cataclysm - an event resulting in great loss and misfortune; the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity; the earthquake was a disaster.
A starving mother and a child wait for food at a relief camp in the province of Wollo, Ethiopia, during a widespread famine in December 1984. The history of humanity is a history of hunger. Pretty much every society in recorded time has been wracked by famines, and a few have been destroyed by them. Sometimes these famines are spurred or exacerbated by political or military campaigns. Sometimes theyâre due to human error.