How to Use perish in a Sentence

perish

verb
  • The sailors perished at sea.
  • Two people perished in the fire.
  • The rubber will perish with age.
  • Many ancient languages have perished over time.
  • The civilization perished after 500 years.
  • For that, Navalny perished while in the hands of the state.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 19 Feb. 2024
  • The group knows that some of those 427 may have perished in the flames.
    — Kevin Fagan, San Francisco Chronicle, 30 May 2018
  • And some big, old, beloved trees perished from the high winds.
    — Justin Kaufmann, Axios, 16 July 2024
  • At first, the team assumed the wolves would eat the deer and move on—or starve and perish.
    — Doug Johnson, Ars Technica, 26 Jan. 2023
  • Nicole Quitasol perished in the blaze, which claimed the lives of 33 others.
    — Greg Moran, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Sep. 2019
  • The shelter said on Facebook that all of the dogs perished in the blaze.
    — Kerry Breen, CBS News, 25 Oct. 2024
  • Nine of them were rescued, but one, a meerkat, perished in the fire.
    — Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 16 June 2023
  • Cartwright said that of the 18 who perished in the heat in the county, at least six were older than 50.
    — Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 11 July 2024
  • Many of the trees are expected to perish in three to five years.
    — Brian Melley, ajc, 19 Nov. 2021
  • Of the ship’s 35 crew members, 11 perished on or near the island.
    — Carl Hoffman, Outside Online, 3 Apr. 2018
  • The group makes a pact to contact the others from beyond the grave should one of them perish.
    — Michaela Zee, Variety, 20 Sep. 2022
  • Many have perished, as a result of shifts in the culture and the movie business.
    — cleveland.com, 28 Mar. 2018
  • One kid ate the broiled fruit and loved it; the other would have sooner perished.
    — Emily Weinstein, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2025
  • All the stories stress the maxim that our species must adapt or perish.
    — Washington Post, 10 May 2021
  • The patient perished when the power was cut off, the spokesperson, Ashraf Al-Qudra, said.
    — NBC News, 16 Nov. 2023
  • So far, 55 of those who perished in the crash have been identified.
    — Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 4 Feb. 2025
  • The families of those who have perished in these fires, our hearts are with you.
    — NBC News, 12 Jan. 2025
  • Some knew, and competed with, skaters who perished in the crash.
    — Laura Bauer, Kansas City Star, 5 Feb. 2025
  • In Connington’s novel, the king and queen choose to stay in the South and perish with the bulk of their people.
    — Washington Post, 26 May 2021
  • Copeland and the other soldiers who perished are buried in Epinal, France.
    — Jacob McAdams, Houston Chronicle, 31 May 2018
  • In 2022, Monty was found on the beach, but later perished.
    — Sheryl Devore, Chicago Tribune, 13 Sep. 2023
  • Lewis says the count of those who perished will likely climb daily.
    — Susan Young, Peoplemag, 17 Aug. 2023
  • So that government of by and for the people shall not perish from this earth.
    — Will Steakin, ABC News, 28 Apr. 2023
  • How kids get left in hot cars The news that a child has perished in a hot car usually sends shockwaves through the local community and can make national headlines.
    — Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 14 Apr. 2025
  • McDonald said investigators won’t know if that twin perished in the fire until investigators can begin going through the debris of it.
    — Rick Hurd, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'perish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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