live on borrowed time

live on borrowed time

To live or exist in a temporary and/or tenuous position, which may come to an end suddenly and abruptly. Accidents and disease can strike so unexpectedly that it feels like we're all living on borrowed time.See also: borrow, live, on, time

live on borrowed time

Fig. to exist only because of good fortune; to live on when death was expected. The doctors told him he was living on borrowed time. You are living on borrowed time, so make the best of it.See also: borrow, live, on, time

on borrowed time, live

Outlive reasonable expectations, as in Our twenty-year-old car is living on borrowed time, or The vet said our dog is living on borrowed time. This expression alludes to time borrowed from death. [Late 1800s] See also: borrow, live, on

living on borrowed time

continuing to survive against expectations (used with the implication that this will not be for much longer).See also: borrow, living, on, time

be/live on borrowed ˈtime


1 (of a person who is seriously ill) live longer than the doctors expected: The doctors say he’s living on borrowed time.
2 be doing something that other people are likely to soon stop you from doing: The government is on borrowed time (= they are not likely to be in power for long).See also: borrow, live, on, time