pine for

phrasal verb

pined for; pining for; pines for
: to feel very sad because one wants (something) or because one is not with (someone)
She was pining for the old days.
He's pining for his college sweetheart.

Examples of pine for in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Speaking of mothers: Mary Brown (Mortimer) has been pining for the good old days when her now-teenaged children, Judy (Madeleine Harris ) and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin), weren’t so grown-up. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 11 Feb. 2025 Trump, who openly pines for a Nobel Peace Prize, may see his opportunity in such a pursuit, which could transform the entire Middle East and create a new bulwark against Iran, a common foe to Jerusalem and Riyadh. Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 4 Feb. 2025 Her children, pining for attention, kept interrupting. John Branch, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2024 Cataloguing both vitality and injustice highlights a people’s perseverance but also pines for a change in their living conditions. Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 13 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for pine for 

Dictionary Entries Near pine for

Cite this Entry

“Pine for.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pine%20for. Accessed 16 Feb. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!