Does English have a word for voluntarily abstaining from water, like "fasting" for voluntarily abstaining from food?
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1Try dehydrating and, after that, dying.– RobustoCommented Jun 1, 2019 at 22:04
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I’m sure this is a duplicate. Let me look.– JimCommented Jun 1, 2019 at 22:13
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I've edited to include "voluntary" to try to distinguish from english.stackexchange.com/questions/334601/…, not to say its not a duplicate of some other one...– mleggeCommented Jun 1, 2019 at 22:14
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Inebriation, depending on what one substitutes for water.– Hot LicksCommented Jun 1, 2019 at 22:23
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1W. C. Fields would have called it simple common sense.– MickCommented Jun 1, 2019 at 22:53
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1 Answer
The OP asked
Does English have a word for voluntarily abstaining from water, like "fasting" for voluntarily abstaining from food?
If a person eats food but does not drink any fluids, they are still consuming water in the foods they eat; fruit, vegetables, and some meats have a very high water content. (source)
If the person voluntarily abstains from eating food and drinking any fluids, that is within the definition of fasting.
Fasting
Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. A fast may be total or partial concerning that from which one fasts, and may be prolonged or intermittent as to the period of fasting.
Wikipedia, Abstinence
As the term fasting is a fairly broad term, a more precise expression that describes abstaining from all food and fluids (including water) would be an absolute fast or dry fasting, or ta'anit (a Hebrew fast).
If someone refuses to eat for political or personal reasons that is a “hunger strike”; this form of protest may also include the refusal to drink fluids.
answered Jun 2, 2019 at 8:03
