perish

What it means

1. intransitiveTo decay and disappear; to waste away to nothing.

   1881, Tarafa, translated by W. A. Clouston, The Poem of Tarafa I consider time as a treasure decreasing every night; and that which every day diminishes soon perishes for ever.

2. intransitiveTo decay in such a way that it cannot be used for its original purpose

   The difficulty is that fresh foods perish due to the multiplication in them of harmful bacteria.

   2015, Christopher Cumo, Foods that Changed History

3. intransitiveTo die; to cease to live.

   When it goeth well with the righteous, the citie reioyceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 11:10

   1 more example

   […]the ship struck upon a sand, and […] the sea broke over her in such a manner that we expected we should all have perished immediately; and we were immediately driven into our close quarters, to shelter us from the very foam and spray of the sea.

   1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC

   Synonyms: decease, pass away, assume room temperature, auger in, be called home, be gathered to one's fathers, be like the the One, be no more

In a sentence

1881, Tarafa, translated by W. A. Clouston, The Poem of Tarafa I consider time as a treasure decreasing every night; and that which every day diminishes soon perishes for ever.

Where it comes from

1. Latinperīre“pass away, perish”
2. Old Frenchperir
3. Middle Englishperishen
4. Englishperish

From Middle English perishen, borrowed from Old French perir (via the stem periss- used in various conjugations), from Latin perīre (“pass away, perish”), from per (“through”) + īre (“pass, go”).