a-ˈhungry, a.
[f. hungry; the prefix is due to form-assoc. with a-hungered, and, perhaps, a-cold; it was probably taken as emphatic. Also expanded to an-hungry.]
Hungry, in a hungry condition.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. iii. 499 The ravyn is a hungrye All way. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iii. 137 'Twere as good a deede as to drink when a man's a hungrie. 1832 Fraser's Mag. Nov. 527 The baby in the cradle is for ever a-hungry, or a-thirsty. 1852 Tait's Mag. XIX. 228 The Whigs..were a-thirst and a-hungry for office. 1933 C. Miller Lamb in Bosom (1934) viii. 91 Jasper found that he was not a-hungry. |