thirsty, a.
(ˈθɜːstɪ)
Forms: see thirst n.
[OE. þurstiᵹ, þyrstiᵹ, f. þurst, thirst n. + -iᵹ, -y. Cf. OS. thurstig, OHG. durstag.]
1. a. Having the sensation of thirst; feeling desire or craving for drink.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxv. 35 Ic wæs ðyrstiᵹ and ᵹe saldon me dringe. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) lxi[i]. 4 Wide urnon; þurstiᵹe muðe. c 1200 Ormin 6163 Forr þe birrþ fedenn hunngriȝ mann & þrisstiȝ ȝifenn drinnke. a 1300 Cursor M. 1020 (Cott.) Suld he neuer thresti [F. þristy, G. thristi, Tr. fursti] be. 1426 Audelay Poems 7 The thorste ȝif dryng. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 460 Hym thoght in his slepe þat hym was passand thrustie. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xxii. 66, I fele my selfe nother hungry nor thrusty. 1549 Compl. Scot. v. 34 Quhen ve ar thirsty, ve seik drynk. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. x. 38 His office was the hungry for to feed, And thristy give to drinke. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. v. 38 The thirsty Cattel..abstain'd From Water. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. 79 The Fountain being..very inviting to the thirsty Passenger. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 319 The thirsty one, in that he thirsts, desires only drink. |
b. transf. Of earth or plants: Greatly wanting moisture; dry, parched, arid.
| 1388 Wyclif Isa. xxxv. 7 That that was drie, is maad in to a poond, and the thirsti..in to wellis of watris. 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. iii. iv. in Ashm. Theat. Chem. Brit. (1652) 140 Dry up thyne Erth tyll hyt be thrysty. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 80 b, The salte, bitter, and thirstie ground. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxiv. xiv, Thou wondrously didst cause..From thirsty flynt a fountayne flow. 1743 Francis tr. Hor., Odes i. xxii. 16 The tawny lion reigns Fierce on his native Afric's thirsty plains. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 254 The country was parched and thirsty. |
2. fig. Having or characterized by a vehement desire or craving; eager, greedy.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xii, Swa swylᵹð seo ᵹitsung þa dreosendan welan..forþam hio hiora simle bið þursteᵹu. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 56 It semys bettir þat þe eres of þe folk be thristy to þe wordes of þe kyng. 1577 Harrison England ii. i. (1877) i. 17 The thirstie desire of the people..to heare the word of God. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 727 When the thirsty Fire had drunk Their vital Blood. 1760 Franklin Lett. Wks. 1840 VI. 230 She has a mind thirsty after knowledge. 1831 Lamb Elia, Newspapers 35 Yrs. ago, Refreshing to the thirsty curiosity of the traveller. |
b. Of a motor vehicle, engine, etc.: that has a high fuel-consumption rate.
| 1977 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXV. 364/1 Larger and quieter aeroplanes and less thirsty engines. 1980 Daily Tel. 9 July 12/5 It should..appeal to motorists wishing to move up from the normal run of mass-produced saloons without..running a bigger and thirstier model. |
3. transf. That causes thirst. (Now colloq.)
| 1599 Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 152 Troubled with the dropsie..caused..or accompanied with a thirstie infirmitie. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. i. ii. 134 Our Natures doe pursue Like Rats that rauyn downe their proper Bane, A thirsty euill, and when we drinke, we die. 1812 W. Tennant Anster F. iv. xlviii, Slices of the thirsty ham. 1897 F. T. Jane Lordship, etc. i. 2 A thirsty walk up and down terrible bad roads. Mod. Thirsty weather and thirsty work. |
4. Comb., as thirsty-cupped, thirsty-looking adjs.; thirsty frog, thirsty snake: see quots.
| 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 70 b, There is..fiue kindes of Aspis. The first named Dipsas in Greeke, in Latine Situla, Thristie Snake. 1802 Shaw Gen. Zool. III. 115 Thirsty Frog, Rana Sitibunda..Native of desert places about the river Ural:..has the habit of a toad. 1875 Lanier Poems, Symphony 132 Marsh-plants, thirsty-cupped for rains. Mod. A thirsty-looking man standing outside a public-house. |