Both Uses of
perish
in
The War of the Worlds
- Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.†
Chpt 1.1 *
- We stood aghast at our danger, and had the Martian looked down we must immediately have perished.†
Chpt 2.1
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.