perish
/ˈperɪʃ/verb
1
- no obj. suffer death, typically in a violent, sudden, or untimely way死亡（尤指暴死、猝死、夭折）：
a great part of his army perished of hunger and disease.
他的很大一部分军队死于饥饿和疾病。
1.1
- suffer complete ruin or destruction消亡, 毁灭; 被摧毁：
if inflation is let rip, the government would almost certainly perish at the polls.
如果听任通货膨胀迅速发展, 政府在大选中几乎肯定会彻底失败。
1.2
- (of rubber, a foodstuff, or other organic substance) lose its normal qualities; rot or decay（橡胶、食品或其他有机物质）老化, 变质; 腐烂, 腐朽：
most domestic building was in wood and has perished.
大部分的住宅是木结构而且已腐朽了。
2
be perished
Brit. be suffering from extreme cold〈英〉经受酷寒：I was often perished with cold before the end of the day.
我经常在天黑以前冻得浑身僵直。
短语
perish the thought
- informal used, often ironically, to show that one finds a suggestion or idea completely ridiculous or unwelcome〈非正式, 常讽〉死了心吧：
he wasn't out to get drunk - perish the thought!
他没有出去喝醉酒, 死了心吧！
词源
Middle English: from Old French periss-, lengthened stem of perir, from Latin perire 'pass away', from per- 'through, completely' + ire 'go'.