All 3 Uses
perish
in
The Great Fire
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- Tens of thousands of people scrambled for their lives, became trapped and confused; most figured out how to escape, but scores of people perished in dead-end streets.†
p. 76.9 *perished = died, was destroyed, or ceased to exist
- He had long ago decided that her three children had perished in the fire; now, on top of this, he had lost track of his sister-in-law, Mr. Wood, and another nephew in the chaos of the night.†
p. 87.2
- In all only 120 bodies would be recovered, though officials estimated that nearly 300 people perished in the flames.†
p. 112.3
Definitions:
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(1)
(perish) to die -- especially in an unnatural way
or:
to be destroyed or cease to existYou 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. - (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)