[mass noun]extreme scarcity of food 饥馑;饥荒 drought could result in famine throughout the region. 干旱可能导致整个地区出现饥荒。 [count noun]the famine of 1921–1922. 1921–1922年的那场饥荒。 ■[count noun]a shortage 匮乏,短缺 the cotton famine of the 1860s. 19世纪60年代的棉花短缺。 ■(archaic)hunger (古)饥饿
语源
late Middle English: from Old French, from faim 'hunger', from Latin fames