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perish the thought

per·ish the thought
P p

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [per-ish stressed th ee thawt]
    • /ˈpɛr ɪʃ stressed ði θɔt/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [per-ish stressed th ee thawt]
    • /ˈpɛr ɪʃ stressed ði θɔt/

Definitions of perish the thought words

  • verb without object perish the thought to die or be destroyed through violence, privation, etc.: to perish in an earthquake. 1
  • verb without object perish the thought to pass away or disappear: an age of elegance that has forever perished. 1
  • verb without object perish the thought to suffer destruction or ruin: His valuable paintings perished in the fire. 1
  • verb without object perish the thought to suffer spiritual death: Save us, lest we perish. 1
  • idioms perish the thought perish the thought, may it never happen: used facetiously or as an afterthought of foreboding. 1
  • interjection perish the thought I do not wish even to think about it 1
See all 9 definitions of perish the thought

Information block about the term

Origin of perish the thought

First appearance:

before 1200
One of the 9% oldest English words
1200-50; Middle English perissen < Old French periss-, long stem of perir < Latin perīre to perish, literally, go through, spend fully, equivalent to per- per- + īre to go

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Perish the thought

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Perish the thought

perish the thought popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 86% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

perish the thought usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

See also

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