Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Language: Old English
Origin: pinian, from pin 'punishment', from Latin poena; PAIN1

pine

2 verb
     
pine2 [intransitive]
to become sad and not continue your life as normal because someone has died or gone away:
Six months after he left, she was still pining.

pine away

phrasal verb
to become less active, weaker and often ill, especially because you miss someone who has died or gone away

pine for somebody/something

phrasal verb
1 if you pine for a place or for something, you miss it a lot and wish you could be there or have it again:
After two months in France I was pining for home.
2 if you pine for someone, you feel very unhappy because they are not with you:
Karen had been pining for her friends back home in Colorado.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
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