The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Starvation \Star*va"tion\ (st[aum]r*v[=a]"sh[u^]n), n.
   The act of starving, or the state of being starved.
   [1913 Webster]

   Note: This word was first used, according to Horace Walpole,
         by Henry Dundas, the first Lord Melville, in a speech
         on American affairs in 1775, which obtained for him the
         nickname of Starvation Dundas.
         "Starvation, we are also told, belongs to the class of
         'vile compounds' from being a mongrel; as if English
         were not full of mongrels, and as if it would not be in
         distressing straits without them." --Fitzed. Hall.
         [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

starvation
    n 1: a state of extreme hunger resulting from lack of essential
         nutrients over a prolonged period [syn: starvation,
         famishment]
    2: the act of depriving of food or subjecting to famine; "the
       besiegers used starvation to induce surrender"; "they were
       charged with the starvation of children in their care" [syn:
       starvation, starving]