matekai
1. (stative) be hungry.
Ka mōmona ko te rangatira o te hōtēra i ngā moni a te pāpā, ka pōrangi ko ia i te waipiro, ka haere tahanga, matekai hoki, ko ngā tamariki me tō rātou kōkā (TP 5/1911:2). / The owner of the hotel grows fat from the money of the father who is crazy from alcohol, while the children and their mother go without anything and are starving.
2. (noun) hunger, starvation.
Ka puta te matekai ki te pā o Te Whetū-matarau (TTR 1990:115). / Starvation overcame the people of the pā of Te Whetū-matarau.