deathbeddeath‧bed /ˈdeθbed/ noun 
On her deathbed, Miriam’s mother reveals that she never knew her father.deathbed confession/conversion etc (=made when you are dying) The disease allowed no time for a deathbed repentance.
EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
- Even so, the memory of Mama on her deathbed entreating Dad to tell us his story continued to nag at me.
- On her deathbed Mary Leapor reportedly expressed concern for her father's advancing age.
- Preston wondered if he really didn't know about the deathbed pantomime.
- Take that last one, about Darwin on his deathbed.
Longman Language Activatorwhen someone is going to die very soon
if someone is dying , they will die very soon because they are very ill or very badly injured: · He gave the dying man a drop of water from his flask.· The priest was killed as he was giving the last rites to a dying man.lie dying: · Even as she lay dying in a hospital bed, she was still thinking of her children.
formal to be going to die very soon: · When the fisherman spotted the boat, its crew were already close to death.· Davis had suffered a stroke and was near death.
to be lying in your bed, about to die: · My grandmother gave me that ring when she was on her deathbed.· Thirty years later, on her deathbed, she confessed to the crime.
spoken to be extremely ill and likely to die soon: · His skin was so pale, he looked like he was at death's door.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
[countable usually singular] the bed on which someone dies or is dyingon your deathbed (=made when you are dying) The disease allowed no time for a deathbed repentance.
The disease allowed no time for a deathbed repentance. On her deathbed, Miriam’s mother reveals that she never knew her father.deathbed confession/conversion etc (=made when you are dying) The disease allowed no time for a deathbed repentance.