starting and starving differ by a single letter, buried far enough into the word to be easy to miss. starting means “(especially of eyes) bulging or protruding as with fear”. starving means “the act of depriving of food or subjecting to famine”. starting is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈstɑɹtɪŋ/
1.adj.(especially of eyes) bulging or protruding as with fear
“with eyes starting from their sockets”
2.adj.appropriate to the beginning or start of an event
“the starting point”
3.n.a turn to be a starter (in a game at the beginning)
“he got his start because one of the regular pitchers was in the hospital”
/ˈstɑɹvɪŋ/
1.n.the act of depriving of food or subjecting to famine
“the besiegers used starvation to induce surrender”
2.adj.suffering from lack of food
| starting | starving | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈstɑɹtɪŋ/ | /ˈstɑɹvɪŋ/ |
| Said | STAHR-ting | STAHR-ving |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| Letters | 8 | 8 |
| Parts of speech | adjective, noun | noun, adjective |
| Senses | 3 | 2 |
| How common | Core | Common |
| Synonyms | none recorded | starvation |
Full entry for starting · Full entry for starving · More comparisons