the.com/hunger pang
Your stomach's way of texting you first, then just screaming.
means A sharp, cramping stomach sensation that signals you need to eat, caused by muscle contractions when your stomach is empty.
from Straightforward compound: 'hunger' from Old English 'hungor' (the ache of needing food, shared with German 'Hunger'), and 'pang' from Middle English 'pangge,' likely related to 'prange'/'prong,' meaning a sudden piercing pain — think of it as a pain that stabs rather than aches. Together the phrase has been describing stomach-driven distress since at least the 1500s.
- actual cause
- empty stomach walls rubbing and contracting on themselves
- timing
- starts roughly two hours after last meal
- not reliable
- can strike from thirst, stress, or boredom too
- the sound
- stomach growling is literally called borborygmi