All 3 Uses of
perish
in
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- …next, certain boys said the missing lads had promised that the village should "hear something" soon; the wise-heads had "put this and that together" and decided that the lads had gone off on that raft and would turn up at the next town below, presently; but toward noon the raft had been found, lodged against the Missouri shore some five or six miles below the village —and then hope perished; they must be drowned, else hunger would have driven them home by nightfall if not sooner.†
Chpt 15
- There was not an urchin in school but was perishing to have a glimpse of it, but the chance never came.†
Chpt 20 *
- The "might" was even a chillier horror than the ghostly laughter, it so confessed a perishing hope.†
Chpt 31
Definition:
-
(perish) to die -- especially in an unnatural way
or:
to be destroyed or cease to existeditor's notes: You may encounter an informal expression, "Perish the thought." It means that the speaker hopes the thought will cease to exist and the thing it represents will never happen.