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Noun: famine  fa-min
  1. A severe shortage of food (as through crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and starvation and death
    "The prolonged drought led to a devastating famine in the region"
     
  2. An acute insufficiency
    "The famine caused widespread starvation in the region";
    - dearth, shortage

Derived forms: famines

Type of: calamity, cataclysm, catastrophe, deficiency, disaster, lack, tragedy, want

Encyclopedia: Famine, Affluence and Morality