All 4 Uses of
perish
in
In the Unlikely Event
- A set of medical records told of a soldier who had survived the Korean battlefield, only to perish here.†
p. 95.4perish = die, be destroyed, or cease to exist
- Stewardess Who Perished in Crash Warned Sister†
p. 127.1 *perished = died, was destroyed, or ceased to exist
- Four occupants of the ravaged apartment building perished, three of them from the same family—Irving Zahler, 30, his 27-year-old wife, Marilyn, and their 4-year-old son, Monte.†
p. 301.1
- Chubby little Patty Clausen, age 5, was unharmed, but her mother perished.†
p. 313.5
Definition:
to die -- especially in an unnatural way
or:
to be destroyed or cease to exist
or:
to be destroyed or cease to exist
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.