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.
famine A famine is a severe shortage of food, but not the I forgot to go to the grocery store and there's nothing to eat in the house type of shortage. A famine is usually caused by crop failure or disaster. Although the extreme shortage of food meaning is most common, the noun famine can also mean any shortage or insufficiency, and it is often used idiomatically in the phrase feast or famine..