| 释义 |
Definition of death in English: deathnoun dɛθdɛθ mass noun1The action or fact of dying or being killed; the end of the life of a person or organism. he had been depressed since the death of his father count noun an increase in deaths from skin cancer I don't believe in life after death Example sentencesExamples - At present, we have the highest rate of premature death from heart disease in the EU.
- So those people died a tragic, tragic sudden, unexpected death.
- By the time the guards run in, minutes later, the occupants are all either dead or on the brink of death.
- There are so many choices out there that don't require the suffering and death of animals.
- Especially in October and November, we often think of death and the dead.
- I think we have to do everything that is possible to reduce deaths and casualties on the roads.
- If we cannot save or stop the death of animals, at least we should not kill them in a cruel way.
- Jack closed his eyes tightly and longed for death, for surely he would be dead sooner or later.
- Incidents of violent attacks that leave people dead or near death have increased in Australia recently.
- The exhibition, which runs until September 7, is a showpiece of life and death in the animal world.
- The death knell may be about to sound for Yorkshire's last remaining pits.
- Men who don't fear death are dead men because fearing death is part of life
- There is no family history of sudden infant deaths and everything had seemed okay.
- It is a sad fact that these deaths are now so commonplace that they rarely make the news.
- Drivers have borne the brunt of the blame for their part in our high road death toll.
- "Poor diet is the biggest cause of preventable death in this country.
- The other two photographs are closer, and shows many birds dead, some near death and very few still standing.
- It is estimated that around one fifth of all deaths in the UK are attributed to smoking.
- Requiem - a mass for the dead - explores the relationship between man and death.
- He has pleaded not guilty to four charges of causing death by dangerous driving.
Synonyms demise, dying, end, passing, passing away, passing on, loss of life, expiry, expiration, departure from life, final exit, eternal rest murder, killing, assassination, execution, dispatch, slaying, slaughter, massacre informal snuffing, curtains, kicking the bucket Law decease rare quietus - 1.1 The state of being dead.
even in death, she was beautiful Example sentencesExamples - So tranquil appeared the manly features in the repose of death, that some moments had passed ere those around could believe that the patriarch was no more.
- The bad part of grief is that it, like death, lasts forever.
- 1.2 The permanent ending of vital processes in a cell or tissue.
Example sentencesExamples - Programmed cell death occurs in most, if not all life forms.
- Mutations can affect genes that control the birth or death of cells.
- Over time, cell death has been linked to decreased heart function or heart failure.
- Ultimately, in the third stage, this process becomes irreversible and leads to cell death.
- For example, a severe sunburn with peeling skin shows p53 in action causing programmed cell death of the skin.
- We've isolated a number of molecules now that are known to cause cell death in other cell systems.
- It's a curious thing that programmed cell death is an absolutely essential part of development.
- A significant decrease in cell death was achieved through the depletion of oxygen.
- After discharges, seizure activity could act as a stimulus producing cell death in the hippocampus.
- Plants also undergo programmed cell death in a variety of situations.
- This occurred through different pathways and caused different modes of cell death.
- Roots of this length have not initiated physiological death processes, and include a mass of mitotic cells.
- I highly recommend this book for all who have an interest in plant biology and programmed cell death in general.
- It causes the controlled death of single cells, if this is to the advantage of the whole organism.
- It is noted that this heat treatment resulted in only minimal cell death.
- This stabilization leads to mutations and eventually to cell death.
- These cells then enter a non-dividing state, termed senescence, which can lead to irreversible cell death.
- Two approaches for how to prevent nerve cell death have just been reported.
- This cell death contributes to the memory lapses and confusion seen in the patients.
- If you have too much cell death at the wrong time, then that results in disturbed brain development.
- 1.3 The personification of the power that destroys life, often represented in art and literature as a skeleton or an old man holding a scythe.
Also called the Grim Reaper Example sentencesExamples - The story of Savitri begins when Death visits the woodland home of Savitri to take her husband, Satyavan.
- Ah, they told themselves, Reaper, the Minion of Death, is back in town.
- The Ancient Mariner was by now in agony, as he looked upon all those whom Death had taken.
- One short sleep, we wake eternally, and Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die!
- The image of Deaths wide-open mouth evokes the devouring void, the very nothingness that comes with the cessation of consciousness.
Synonyms the Grim Reaper, the Dark Angel, the Angel of Death - 1.4 The destruction or permanent end of something.
Example sentencesExamples - The death of the American auto industry -- and the loss of hundreds of thousands of high-paying union jobs -- isn't necessarily a bad thing for the environment if it means more market share for more efficient Japanese vehicles.
- Cinema's birth or rebirth is intimately linked to its death and the process of its mourning.
- The Mighty Ed Driscoll has a terrific post on the death of the smart romantic comedy, inspired by a piece by A.O. Scott.
Synonyms end, finish, cessation, termination, extinction, extinguishing, collapse, ruin, ruination, destruction, extermination, eradication, annihilation, obliteration, extirpation - 1.5 A damaging or destructive state of affairs.
to be driven to a dance by one's father would be social death Example sentencesExamples - Being a Classics teacher is not the social death it was twenty-five years ago.
- In my era we were told as academics: deal with the media at your peril, it's professional death.
- In every slave society slaves challenged the idea of slavery by struggling to redeem themselves from social death.
- Playing the lone wolf is gutsy, but be prepared for professional and social death.
- Any uniform approach to the curriculum or to learning is intellectual death to some of the learners, and is therefore suspect.
- What they did was create a situation where if you are a high school student, it is social death to have a mobile phone that is not a Nokia.
Phrases Example sentencesExamples - They would take turns to come to our house for a cup of tea and as sure as death they would sit on this chair.
- Cynicism comes with age, as sure as death, and I haven't missed it.
- Only give her a chance, and as sure as death she'll get hold of John, after all.
(especially in hyperbolic use) so ill that one may die. you've been out a lot, considering you're supposed to be at death's door Example sentencesExamples - Paramedic Liz Moore said: ‘It's the first time we've seen him since the incident in February, and it's lovely to see him looking so well after being at death's door.’
- ‘Some people have died within 20 minutes of arriving in a hospital because they don't go until they are at death's door,’ he said.
- She was at death's door and a relation had been taken from prison to the hospital to see her.
- Indeed Colm, who has suffered from cystic fibrosis since birth, was considered more than once to be at death's door, with the family being called to his bedside.
- What's the diagnosis, Doc - robust health or at death's door?
- This morning, I find I'm feeling less like a person at death's door.
- When I saw him just after he had the operation, he looked to be at death's door, so for him to rally and want to play again shows the courage he possesses and love for the game.
- She was at death's door and it wasn't like Jennifer - it was like something had been switched off inside her.
- Though doctors could find nothing wrong with him, he convinced them he was at death's door.
- She told me she's very spiritual and suffers from migraines but has never seen a doctor about them because her family doesn't believe one should go to a doctor unless one is at death's door.
- Yes, I was prostrate, at death's door, battling a feline-inflicted strep infection.
- An old woman of the area was at death's door and a neighbour went to fetch the parish priest who lived at Barratogher.
- But when I am at death's door please spare me other people's taste in radio.
- To make matters worse, Mr. King was in the hospital, possibly at death's door.
- ‘I suppose I would reply that I am in a transition from being at death's door to slowly rebuilding my life,’ said Obree.
- It is a near-miraculous story that Eoin Hand can now lead a full, active and satisfying life, considering that in 1997 he was at death's door, having been administered the last rites.
- Now and then rumors surface that the nation's leader is not in the best health - that he is even at death's door.
- Three years ago, the Evening Press reported how Rhys made a miraculous recovery when he had appeared to be at death's door, struggling against pneumonia and a collapsed lung.
- But in the course of her illness, she said, it was intensely tiresome when people assumed she was at death's door, in spite of statistics proving how good her chances were.
- Of course, when I was at death's door last Friday I did hit the nearest mall, but I didn't wear make-up, so it's ok.
Synonyms unwell, sick, not well, not very well, ailing, poorly, sickly, peaky, afflicted, indisposed, infirm, liverish
(often used hyperbolically or humorously) cause someone's death. you'll be the death of me with all your questions Example sentencesExamples - You just don't get it, the Civil War was the death of democracy and the triumph of corporations (the dead) over the living.
- I love my family to death, but they were going to be the death of me if they weren't careful.
- According to the authors, human-induced global warming could be the death of over a million species by the year 2050.
- When the telegraph came on the scene in the mid-19th century it was widely predicted that that was the death of newspapers.
- It had been keeping Paladiene safe for over one thousand years now, but he alone had been the death of over one hundred Gate Holders.
- If we and they do not fill this empty space, it will be the death of them and it will be the death of us.
- I insisted, like any smart-assed grad student, that rote memorization was the death of cognitive liberty.
- The 17th Amendment was the death of the careful balance between state and federal governments.
- His early death encouraged the belief that debauchery and dissipation had been the death of him.
1Be present when a hunted animal is caught and killed. Example sentencesExamples - My horse was, fortunately, a quiet old beast, that had rushed with me into many a herd, and been in at the death of many a buffalo.
- After the latter I had many a long and tiring run in my boyish days; and on one occasion followed the pack for five hours, without a moment's rest, and was in at the death of a fourth hare.
- All the hunters who were in at the death expressed their surprise at these appearances.
- My brother was in at the death of the great southern herds in 1877, and had a good deal of experience in buffalo hunting.
- He thought he might yet be in at the death; and with this idea he ran up to his horse, drew the picket-pin, and leaping upon his bare back, directed him after the chase.
- 1.1Be present when something fails or comes to an end.
Example sentencesExamples - And then he himself, in the King George V, was in at the death, battleships, battle-cruisers, the fleet air arm, cruisers, and destroyers, all having taken part in the chase.
- Even at this stage, it is already almost certain to qualify in first place, but the fight is on for the minor placings, with any of the other 7 teams capable of being in at the death.
- A fury of rule or ruin has always in the history of human affairs been a characteristic of the ‘strong men’ whose fate it is to be in at the death of an expiring principle.
- Well, we'll be returning to the experiment to be in at the death, so to speak!
- After the first two matches of the 2004-05 Premier League season, Arsenal and Chelsea have both announced their intentions to be in at the death for the Premiership title.
- ‘New Zealand troops were in at the death, and have fought with tremendous tenacity throughout,’ cabled Mr. Churchill to the New Zealand Government.
- Before the big show I went on stage and told the audience they were in at the death of a film.
- Another occasion on which he was in at the death chasing victory came on a tour to Taiwan in the 1980s.
- During a portion of this year Bowen retired from active work, but returned in time to be in at the death, which occurred in February, 1879.
catch one's death (of cold) informal Catch a severe cold or chill. don't come out, dear, you'll catch your death! Example sentencesExamples - He will catch his death of cold one day, taking so little care of himself in these weathers.
- You'll catch your death of cold here, if you keep sitting in that puddle.
- There are extensive views from here across Ilkley Moor and Wharfedale, but don't forget to wrap up warm or you may just catch your death of cold!
- You'll catch your death out here,’ he growled, undoing his cloak and wrapping it around her.
- When Archer opens the window for fresh air to clear his mind, May tells him to shut it: ‘You'll catch your death!’
- You don't look like you're wearing anything under that nightdress and you'll catch your death of cold if you wear just that
- Surely a porch to stop diners catching their death of cold every time someone comes in for a beer wouldn't be too much to ask?
- Liza fears she will catch her death if she gets entirely wet.
- Go and put some dry clothes on quick, before you catch your death of cold.
- You will catch your death out here, without a coat!
- Um… Could we stay the night, it is dreadfully cold out here, and we might catch our death if we don't get in out of the rain.
- Some drunk helpfully kicked him and said, ‘You can't stay there, you'll catch your death.’
- You need to get out of those wet clothes before you catch your death.
- Your sister would easily catch her death - she's very susceptible to illness right now and she's of a fragile constitution as it is anyway.
- Now let's get you warm before you catch your death.
- When you get to the party, you change out of those wet clothes or you'll catch your death out here.
- ‘Ah, come in out of the rain,’ replies Mrs O'Connor, possibly innocent, possibly knowing, ‘or you'll catch your death.’
- You could have caught your death out there in the rain!
- It's your last chance to bring in all tender plants growing in pots before they catch their death of cold in early frosts.
- If that was me, my mother would run on to the pitch and tell me to get off the wet grass before I catch my death of cold.
he had been done to death by his two attackers Example sentencesExamples - During the war they were used as slave labour till they dropped, and then were done to death.
- The police are now trying to find out when and how she was done to death.
- We are standing here only a couple of hundred yards from Magennis's bar where Mr McCartney was done to death a few weeks ago.
- But the death of the prince of Wales at Tewkesbury in 1471 sealed his own fate, and a few days later he was done to death.
- But because he was different he was done to death.
Synonyms execute, hang, send to the gallows, send to the gibbet, behead, guillotine, decapitate, electrocute, send to the electric chair, send to the chair, shoot, put before a firing squad, send to the gas chamber, gas, crucify, stone, stone to death
Perform or repeat something so frequently that it becomes tediously familiar. a subject that has been done to death by generations of painters Example sentencesExamples - Mr O'Sullivan said the incinerator issue had been done to death here.
- Hitler and the Nazis have been done to death academically.
- He even bends a spoon using the power of his mind - even the debunking of that trick has been done to death.
- Strindberg's Miss Julie has been done to death recently.
- Racing games have been done to death so these days they have to fall into two categories: genuine world-beaters or average games with a great gimmick.
informal Extremely tired or ill. I feel like death warmed up Example sentencesExamples - Or rather, don't try it if you feel like I do today - like death warmed up - because it will only make your headache worse.
- Yet, it thrilled her that he still found her attractive - even yesterday when she knew she had looked like death warmed over.
- But I don't understand why Francis won't talk to me, or why he looks like death warmed over, and I have to tell you, I'm getting really worried about him.
- While I don't know if it was the makeup or he has some sort of serious heroin addiction but he just looks like death warmed over.
- Jen may have looked like death warmed over, but she was smiling.
- Sure enough, this morning I felt like death warmed up and the sneezing began.
- On Sunday night he looked like death warmed up but now you wouldn't think that there had been anything wrong with him.
- From the moment of life to the moment of death, he had the exact same look in his eyes, because he always kind of looked like death warmed over.
- Back then in Leicester I just woke up one morning and felt terrible, and it was only after several days of feeling like death warmed up that I finally went to a doctor.
- So I had to get up, ring the doctor and take them to the appointment, even though I felt like death warmed up.
- So it was that I came back to work two weeks ago looking like death warmed up (my boss said I was grey).
- And even though he looks like death warmed up, O'Toole is on splendidly spirited form and even manages to give the dog a run for its money.
- There was one day where he seemed like death warmed up a couple of weeks ago, and we thought the end was near.
- ‘Geez mate, you look like death warmed up on toast and served in hell’ Max commented as he sat down on the end of the bed.
- He looked like death warmed over for the second or third time. He had the pallor of a corpse; he had little color to him.
- Hm. I've only been up for three and a half hours and I already look like death warmed over.
Kill someone, especially with official sanction. the prisoner was found guilty of sabotage and put to death without trial Example sentencesExamples - The acting, too, is well-suited to the demands of Greek theatre - particularly Matt Shapiro's portrayal of King Creon who is forced by the laws of Thebes to put Antigone to death for violating a religious decree.
- It makes no difference whether you put a man to death by word or by sword.
- Without a stay or clemency, Williams will be put to death at midnight Pacific Time.
- This is not achieved by objectifying murderers and putting them to death to serve as an example to others in the expectation that they might possibly be deterred thereby.
- Legend tells us that some made amazing escapes from the very clutches of those about to put them to death.
- She would ask visitors entering the city of Thebes to answer a riddle and if they could not answer they would be put to death.
- I am still struggling with death penalty issues, as I can see where a case could be made that society is defending itself in putting someone to death.
- But no one can put me to death if I play my music too loudly or invite my boyfriend over for the night.
- While about one quarter of murder victims in Texas are black males, since 1976 only 0.4 percent of prisoners executed in Texas have been put to death for murdering black victims.
- Caiaphas, described as ‘bloodthirsty’ in the film, blackmails Pilate into putting Jesus to death.
- The 8th Circuit's ruling stood, and after having evaded execution on six previously scheduled dates, Singleton was put to death on Tuesday.
- Should either of you return to Prydyn for any reason and are discovered, as you certainly will be, you will be put to death.
- And generally what happens is when people seek the death penalty, jurors tend to want more evidence if they're going to put somebody to death than otherwise.
- So if they are put to death then they will not be able to re-offend and be a threat to society any longer.
- Gordon's reply was that he and his supporters ‘had not yet determined to murder the king and put him to death, they only considered that they were absolved from their allegiance’.
- And the third thing is, if he was put to death, it would have a devastating impact on his family.
- A Briton on Death Row will have to wait until next week to hear whether he will be put to death by lethal injection.
- Longerich concurred, adding that Hitler's reference to the Slovakian Jews is significant because (as Hitler must by this time have known) they had been put to death in extermination camps.
- Remember, when Jesus challenged the authorities they put him to death.
Synonyms execute, hang, send to the gallows, send to the gibbet, behead, guillotine, decapitate, electrocute, send to the electric chair, send to the chair, shoot, put before a firing squad, send to the gas chamber, gas, crucify, stone, stone to death
till (or until) death us do part For as long as each of a couple live. to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, till death us do part Example sentencesExamples - God's blessing is bestowed on the couple's pledge of fidelity ‘till death us do part.’
- This promise to love, honor, and cherish till death us do part was precisely a recognition of our new state of unity.
- Christian marriage is almost defined in terms of loyalty: ‘to have and to hold… for richer, for poorer,… in sickness and in health,… till death us do part.’
- But maybe players will realise that the idea of planning your possible divorce before vowing ‘till death us do part’ is a victory for pragmatism over romance.
- ‘In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part’: these are words spoken by grown-ups.
1Used of a particular action or process that results in someone's death. Example sentencesExamples - Police are to swamp a town with posters in a bid to identify the brutes who battered a father to death in front of his family.
- He was then caught on a nearby roundabout where he was beaten, stabbed and axed to death.
- In the call, he told his wife that one passenger already had been stabbed to death.
- A heroin addict has spoken of the moment he used a heavy wooden lamp stand to beat two men to death as they slept in his flat.
- He also had form, having nearly strangled Arlene to death just weeks both she disappeared.
- Once this was done, these men were axed and clubbed to death and thrown into the pit.
- Earlier this year, trouble flared when a British teenager was stabbed to death outside a bar.
- Another was stoned to death for trying to leave the country with a man that was not a relative.
- Forensic experts believe they now have a DNA profile of the person who stabbed her to death.
- A burglar is believed to have choked to death after getting his neck trapped in a window of a home he was fleeing.
- Sometimes chickens will pick out the weakest one in the flock and peck it to death.
- This is a far cry from last year's parade where a man was stabbed to death on the route.
- She did not want to be beaten to death by these people for the sake of her mother.
- The apparent weapon was sarin gas, a highly toxic nerve agent that causes victims to choke to death.
- The family of a security guard who was stabbed to death have appealed for help to find his killer.
- If we cast our minds back many have been murdered, tortured, burned to death and persecuted.
- Of what use is decisive victory in battle, he asked, if we bleed to death as a result?
- The drama begins with the death of Melissa, whom Periander beats to death in a furious rage.
- A postmortem revealed he had bled to death after a single stab wound to the neck severed a main artery.
- I was sadly told the other day that a large majority of the cats had been poisoned to death.
- 1.1Used to emphasize the extreme nature of a specific action, feeling, or state of mind.
I've got used to speaking in public but it used to scare me to death Example sentencesExamples - I've been sick to death of referees all season and it's people like him that lose us jobs.
- Workers are sick to death of the injustice of low pay for doing vital public service jobs.
- I am sick to death of people like you standing up and telling me how wrong I am.
- The Functionary had a bedraggled expression, like he'd been almost licked to death.
- I was in very good company, and managed to bore some extremely nice people to death.
- I am sick to death of reading letters in your newspaper about how bad bus drivers are.
- I had to take the karate lesson as well, didn't have any kind of plan in mind, and talked myself to death.
- I'm sick to death of liberal commentators waffling on their opposition to the war.
- However, I am sick to death of people maligning the elderly as burdens on society.
- Frankly, if it means being bored to death by a whining old former talent at a rally, I'd give it a miss.
- I am sure I am not the only person who is sick to death of the constant noise and mess.
- I think he came on this stupid quest thing just so he could annoy me to death.
- No wonder they're commentating on Grand Prix, they've bored their only friends to death.
Synonyms out of one's mind, to death, to tears, silly, stupid, sick
Example sentencesExamples - It looked over, but Thistle fought right to the death and refused to lie down.
- They certainly don't herd sheep, but will fight to the death to kill their predators.
- If they were foes he was prepared to quickly extend his claws and fight to the death.
- Feuding fish face a fight to the death with the unlucky loser sinking into oblivion.
- World War One soldiers knew their king and country expected them to fight to the death.
- They are mean and petty and will fight each other to the death over one little tiny nut.
- We go on until all of you give up or until the last man is standing, a fight to the death.
- The scene is set for a fight to the death and then an appearance of the famous Trojan Horse.
- This behavior has been exploited by fish fight organizers for years, so that the fish will fight to the death.
- They would probably fight to the death to defend him if it ever came to that.
- We cannot forget that we are at war, one our enemy declares is a fight to the death.
- This finally leads to the hero facing off against his adversary in a duel to the death.
- He knew it would more than likely be a death blow but it was a fight to the death.
- They certainly are not fighting to the death here and have quickly fled to the hills on the whiff of trouble.
- They were among thousands of slaves being trained to fight to the death in the arena for public entertainment.
- No one knows what the outcome will be, but it is certain that it will be a fight to the death.
- The type of friends one would fight to the death for, even though they knew the odds were against them.
- That way, he suggested, those who remain behind can fight to the death without fear that their cause will die with them.
- My theory is they do this to force people to buy two packets, in order to avoid that inevitable fight to the death.
- She is at once fiercely competitive and ladylike, a fighter to the death and yet a model of polite understatement.
Origin Old English dēath, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dood and German Tod, also to die1. dead from Old English: Dead is related to Dutch dood and German Tod ‘death’, and to death itself. Their shared ancestor is the origin of die. Often it is not enough to be dead: someone must be as dead as a doornail or as a dodo. The comparison with the extinct dodo is understandable enough, but it is not clear why doornails are particularly associated with death. A doornail was one of the large iron studs that were once used on doors to give additional strength or simply for decoration. It may also have been the large stud struck by the knocker, which, subject to constant pounding, could be considered well and truly dead. The phrase goes back to the Middle Ages and was used by Shakespeare, in whose time a person could also be as dead as a herring. Death has prompted many reflections on the human condition. The Roman poet Claudian wrote omnia mors aequat, ‘death levels all’—in English death is the great leveller. Shakespeare's The Tempest contains the line ‘He that dies pays all debts’, a thought that had become death pays all debts by the time of the novelist Sir Walter Scott. That nothing is certain but death and taxes has been a view since the early 18th century. The original deadline (mid 19th century) was a line drawn around a military prison, beyond which any prisoner was liable to be shot. It is first mentioned in a document of the 1860s.
Rhymes Beth, breath, Jerez, Macbeth, Seth Definition of death in US English: deathnoundɛθdeTH 1The action or fact of dying or being killed; the end of the life of a person or organism. an increase in deaths from skin cancer I don't believe in life after death as modifier a death sentence Example sentencesExamples - By the time the guards run in, minutes later, the occupants are all either dead or on the brink of death.
- Requiem - a mass for the dead - explores the relationship between man and death.
- The exhibition, which runs until September 7, is a showpiece of life and death in the animal world.
- There is no family history of sudden infant deaths and everything had seemed okay.
- Incidents of violent attacks that leave people dead or near death have increased in Australia recently.
- It is estimated that around one fifth of all deaths in the UK are attributed to smoking.
- The death knell may be about to sound for Yorkshire's last remaining pits.
- It is a sad fact that these deaths are now so commonplace that they rarely make the news.
- I think we have to do everything that is possible to reduce deaths and casualties on the roads.
- At present, we have the highest rate of premature death from heart disease in the EU.
- "Poor diet is the biggest cause of preventable death in this country.
- Especially in October and November, we often think of death and the dead.
- Drivers have borne the brunt of the blame for their part in our high road death toll.
- The other two photographs are closer, and shows many birds dead, some near death and very few still standing.
- He has pleaded not guilty to four charges of causing death by dangerous driving.
- Men who don't fear death are dead men because fearing death is part of life
- There are so many choices out there that don't require the suffering and death of animals.
- So those people died a tragic, tragic sudden, unexpected death.
- If we cannot save or stop the death of animals, at least we should not kill them in a cruel way.
- Jack closed his eyes tightly and longed for death, for surely he would be dead sooner or later.
Synonyms demise, dying, end, passing, passing away, passing on, loss of life, expiry, expiration, departure from life, final exit, eternal rest - 1.1 The state of being dead.
even in death, she was beautiful Example sentencesExamples - So tranquil appeared the manly features in the repose of death, that some moments had passed ere those around could believe that the patriarch was no more.
- The bad part of grief is that it, like death, lasts forever.
- 1.2 The permanent ending of vital processes in a cell or tissue.
Example sentencesExamples - Plants also undergo programmed cell death in a variety of situations.
- These cells then enter a non-dividing state, termed senescence, which can lead to irreversible cell death.
- This occurred through different pathways and caused different modes of cell death.
- A significant decrease in cell death was achieved through the depletion of oxygen.
- Two approaches for how to prevent nerve cell death have just been reported.
- It is noted that this heat treatment resulted in only minimal cell death.
- For example, a severe sunburn with peeling skin shows p53 in action causing programmed cell death of the skin.
- I highly recommend this book for all who have an interest in plant biology and programmed cell death in general.
- We've isolated a number of molecules now that are known to cause cell death in other cell systems.
- It causes the controlled death of single cells, if this is to the advantage of the whole organism.
- After discharges, seizure activity could act as a stimulus producing cell death in the hippocampus.
- This cell death contributes to the memory lapses and confusion seen in the patients.
- It's a curious thing that programmed cell death is an absolutely essential part of development.
- Ultimately, in the third stage, this process becomes irreversible and leads to cell death.
- Over time, cell death has been linked to decreased heart function or heart failure.
- Programmed cell death occurs in most, if not all life forms.
- Mutations can affect genes that control the birth or death of cells.
- If you have too much cell death at the wrong time, then that results in disturbed brain development.
- Roots of this length have not initiated physiological death processes, and include a mass of mitotic cells.
- This stabilization leads to mutations and eventually to cell death.
- 1.3in singular The personification of the power that destroys life, often represented in art and literature as a skeleton or an old man holding a scythe.
Example sentencesExamples - The Ancient Mariner was by now in agony, as he looked upon all those whom Death had taken.
- Ah, they told themselves, Reaper, the Minion of Death, is back in town.
- One short sleep, we wake eternally, and Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die!
- The story of Savitri begins when Death visits the woodland home of Savitri to take her husband, Satyavan.
- The image of Deaths wide-open mouth evokes the devouring void, the very nothingness that comes with the cessation of consciousness.
Synonyms the grim reaper, the dark angel, the angel of death - 1.4in singular The destruction or permanent end of something.
Example sentencesExamples - The death of the American auto industry -- and the loss of hundreds of thousands of high-paying union jobs -- isn't necessarily a bad thing for the environment if it means more market share for more efficient Japanese vehicles.
- The Mighty Ed Driscoll has a terrific post on the death of the smart romantic comedy, inspired by a piece by A.O. Scott.
- Cinema's birth or rebirth is intimately linked to its death and the process of its mourning.
Synonyms end, finish, cessation, termination, extinction, extinguishing, collapse, ruin, ruination, destruction, extermination, eradication, annihilation, obliteration, extirpation - 1.5 A damaging or destructive state of affairs.
to be driven to a dance by one's father would be social death Example sentencesExamples - In my era we were told as academics: deal with the media at your peril, it's professional death.
- Being a Classics teacher is not the social death it was twenty-five years ago.
- Any uniform approach to the curriculum or to learning is intellectual death to some of the learners, and is therefore suspect.
- Playing the lone wolf is gutsy, but be prepared for professional and social death.
- What they did was create a situation where if you are a high school student, it is social death to have a mobile phone that is not a Nokia.
- In every slave society slaves challenged the idea of slavery by struggling to redeem themselves from social death.
Phrases (especially in hyperbolic use) so ill that one might die. Example sentencesExamples - Of course, when I was at death's door last Friday I did hit the nearest mall, but I didn't wear make-up, so it's ok.
- Now and then rumors surface that the nation's leader is not in the best health - that he is even at death's door.
- But in the course of her illness, she said, it was intensely tiresome when people assumed she was at death's door, in spite of statistics proving how good her chances were.
- She was at death's door and a relation had been taken from prison to the hospital to see her.
- But when I am at death's door please spare me other people's taste in radio.
- ‘Some people have died within 20 minutes of arriving in a hospital because they don't go until they are at death's door,’ he said.
- Yes, I was prostrate, at death's door, battling a feline-inflicted strep infection.
- Indeed Colm, who has suffered from cystic fibrosis since birth, was considered more than once to be at death's door, with the family being called to his bedside.
- Three years ago, the Evening Press reported how Rhys made a miraculous recovery when he had appeared to be at death's door, struggling against pneumonia and a collapsed lung.
- Paramedic Liz Moore said: ‘It's the first time we've seen him since the incident in February, and it's lovely to see him looking so well after being at death's door.’
- Though doctors could find nothing wrong with him, he convinced them he was at death's door.
- She told me she's very spiritual and suffers from migraines but has never seen a doctor about them because her family doesn't believe one should go to a doctor unless one is at death's door.
- An old woman of the area was at death's door and a neighbour went to fetch the parish priest who lived at Barratogher.
- She was at death's door and it wasn't like Jennifer - it was like something had been switched off inside her.
- It is a near-miraculous story that Eoin Hand can now lead a full, active and satisfying life, considering that in 1997 he was at death's door, having been administered the last rites.
- When I saw him just after he had the operation, he looked to be at death's door, so for him to rally and want to play again shows the courage he possesses and love for the game.
- What's the diagnosis, Doc - robust health or at death's door?
- This morning, I find I'm feeling less like a person at death's door.
- To make matters worse, Mr. King was in the hospital, possibly at death's door.
- ‘I suppose I would reply that I am in a transition from being at death's door to slowly rebuilding my life,’ said Obree.
Synonyms unwell, sick, not well, not very well, ailing, poorly, sickly, peaky, afflicted, indisposed, infirm, liverish
(often used hyperbolically or humorously) cause someone's death. you'll be the death of me with all your questions Example sentencesExamples - I love my family to death, but they were going to be the death of me if they weren't careful.
- The 17th Amendment was the death of the careful balance between state and federal governments.
- I insisted, like any smart-assed grad student, that rote memorization was the death of cognitive liberty.
- It had been keeping Paladiene safe for over one thousand years now, but he alone had been the death of over one hundred Gate Holders.
- If we and they do not fill this empty space, it will be the death of them and it will be the death of us.
- When the telegraph came on the scene in the mid-19th century it was widely predicted that that was the death of newspapers.
- You just don't get it, the Civil War was the death of democracy and the triumph of corporations (the dead) over the living.
- His early death encouraged the belief that debauchery and dissipation had been the death of him.
- According to the authors, human-induced global warming could be the death of over a million species by the year 2050.
1Be present when a hunted animal is caught and killed. Example sentencesExamples - All the hunters who were in at the death expressed their surprise at these appearances.
- My brother was in at the death of the great southern herds in 1877, and had a good deal of experience in buffalo hunting.
- After the latter I had many a long and tiring run in my boyish days; and on one occasion followed the pack for five hours, without a moment's rest, and was in at the death of a fourth hare.
- My horse was, fortunately, a quiet old beast, that had rushed with me into many a herd, and been in at the death of many a buffalo.
- He thought he might yet be in at the death; and with this idea he ran up to his horse, drew the picket-pin, and leaping upon his bare back, directed him after the chase.
- 1.1Be present when something fails or comes to an end.
Example sentencesExamples - Even at this stage, it is already almost certain to qualify in first place, but the fight is on for the minor placings, with any of the other 7 teams capable of being in at the death.
- Before the big show I went on stage and told the audience they were in at the death of a film.
- And then he himself, in the King George V, was in at the death, battleships, battle-cruisers, the fleet air arm, cruisers, and destroyers, all having taken part in the chase.
- Well, we'll be returning to the experiment to be in at the death, so to speak!
- Another occasion on which he was in at the death chasing victory came on a tour to Taiwan in the 1980s.
- During a portion of this year Bowen retired from active work, but returned in time to be in at the death, which occurred in February, 1879.
- After the first two matches of the 2004-05 Premier League season, Arsenal and Chelsea have both announced their intentions to be in at the death for the Premiership title.
- A fury of rule or ruin has always in the history of human affairs been a characteristic of the ‘strong men’ whose fate it is to be in at the death of an expiring principle.
- ‘New Zealand troops were in at the death, and have fought with tremendous tenacity throughout,’ cabled Mr. Churchill to the New Zealand Government.
catch one's death (of cold) informal Catch a severe cold or chill. Example sentencesExamples - You'll catch your death of cold here, if you keep sitting in that puddle.
- When you get to the party, you change out of those wet clothes or you'll catch your death out here.
- You'll catch your death out here,’ he growled, undoing his cloak and wrapping it around her.
- Some drunk helpfully kicked him and said, ‘You can't stay there, you'll catch your death.’
- There are extensive views from here across Ilkley Moor and Wharfedale, but don't forget to wrap up warm or you may just catch your death of cold!
- It's your last chance to bring in all tender plants growing in pots before they catch their death of cold in early frosts.
- Surely a porch to stop diners catching their death of cold every time someone comes in for a beer wouldn't be too much to ask?
- You don't look like you're wearing anything under that nightdress and you'll catch your death of cold if you wear just that
- He will catch his death of cold one day, taking so little care of himself in these weathers.
- ‘Ah, come in out of the rain,’ replies Mrs O'Connor, possibly innocent, possibly knowing, ‘or you'll catch your death.’
- You could have caught your death out there in the rain!
- If that was me, my mother would run on to the pitch and tell me to get off the wet grass before I catch my death of cold.
- Liza fears she will catch her death if she gets entirely wet.
- You will catch your death out here, without a coat!
- When Archer opens the window for fresh air to clear his mind, May tells him to shut it: ‘You'll catch your death!’
- You need to get out of those wet clothes before you catch your death.
- Um… Could we stay the night, it is dreadfully cold out here, and we might catch our death if we don't get in out of the rain.
- Go and put some dry clothes on quick, before you catch your death of cold.
- Now let's get you warm before you catch your death.
- Your sister would easily catch her death - she's very susceptible to illness right now and she's of a fragile constitution as it is anyway.
Example sentencesExamples - We are standing here only a couple of hundred yards from Magennis's bar where Mr McCartney was done to death a few weeks ago.
- During the war they were used as slave labour till they dropped, and then were done to death.
- But because he was different he was done to death.
- The police are now trying to find out when and how she was done to death.
- But the death of the prince of Wales at Tewkesbury in 1471 sealed his own fate, and a few days later he was done to death.
Synonyms execute, hang, send to the gallows, send to the gibbet, behead, guillotine, decapitate, electrocute, send to the electric chair, send to the chair, shoot, put before a firing squad, send to the gas chamber, gas, crucify, stone, stone to death
Perform or repeat something so frequently that it becomes tediously familiar. a subject that has been done to death by generations of painters Example sentencesExamples - Racing games have been done to death so these days they have to fall into two categories: genuine world-beaters or average games with a great gimmick.
- Strindberg's Miss Julie has been done to death recently.
- Mr O'Sullivan said the incinerator issue had been done to death here.
- Hitler and the Nazis have been done to death academically.
- He even bends a spoon using the power of his mind - even the debunking of that trick has been done to death.
A terrible experience, especially that of seduction or rape. Example sentencesExamples - Self-doubt in a self-knowledge paradigm is a fate worse than death, because without a ground of being, one cannot protect oneself from attacks whether they be emotional, cultural, or economic.
- Treves rescues Merrick from a fate worse than death as he is attacked by a ravenous crowd at Liverpool Street station.
- To me, failing at this calling when challenged would be a fate worse than death.
- Still a bit dazed, she remembered being thrown into the wall, then saved from a fate worse than death, but then she remembered the face.
- Losing those would be a fate worse than death I assure you!
- It'd be a fate worse than death, a bit like being kept comatose on life support for decades: yes, technically you're alive, but it's no life at all.
- I sense no treachery in your word, but know if you betray me, you shall suffer a fate worse than death.
- Perhaps the endless waiting and not knowing is literally a fate worse than death.
- The idea of working desk duty was like a fate worse than death.
- Another option is to move back in with my parents, which quite frankly would be a fate worse than death.
- His point, as I pretended intense interest with my gaping pig imitation, was that without organized crime you'd be stuck with disorganized crime, a fate worse than death.
- For to cut off the limbs of people whose labour on the land gives them both a livelihood and a sense of belonging is to inflict on them a fate worse than death.
- Her last thought was that she had saved her son from a fate worse than death.
- If you haven't, then I look forward to reading your email message categorically listing the 39 reasons why I have let you down and how I deserve a fate worse than death.
- A group of brilliant artists were forced to be locked for months in the same office space as me - a fate worse than death.
- Why is it considered a fate worse than death to stay at home and rear children?
- Many people regard stroke as a fate worse than death - and with good reason.
- Positive attention from admiration is fine by me, but having pushy people constantly invading my privacy in the name of admiration is a fate worse than death.
- Cara nodded again, as though resigning herself to a fate worse than death.
like death warmed over (or up) informal Extremely tired or ill. Example sentencesExamples - He looked like death warmed over for the second or third time. He had the pallor of a corpse; he had little color to him.
- Or rather, don't try it if you feel like I do today - like death warmed up - because it will only make your headache worse.
- There was one day where he seemed like death warmed up a couple of weeks ago, and we thought the end was near.
- Hm. I've only been up for three and a half hours and I already look like death warmed over.
- So it was that I came back to work two weeks ago looking like death warmed up (my boss said I was grey).
- Back then in Leicester I just woke up one morning and felt terrible, and it was only after several days of feeling like death warmed up that I finally went to a doctor.
- And even though he looks like death warmed up, O'Toole is on splendidly spirited form and even manages to give the dog a run for its money.
- While I don't know if it was the makeup or he has some sort of serious heroin addiction but he just looks like death warmed over.
- Yet, it thrilled her that he still found her attractive - even yesterday when she knew she had looked like death warmed over.
- On Sunday night he looked like death warmed up but now you wouldn't think that there had been anything wrong with him.
- But I don't understand why Francis won't talk to me, or why he looks like death warmed over, and I have to tell you, I'm getting really worried about him.
- Sure enough, this morning I felt like death warmed up and the sneezing began.
- So I had to get up, ring the doctor and take them to the appointment, even though I felt like death warmed up.
- ‘Geez mate, you look like death warmed up on toast and served in hell’ Max commented as he sat down on the end of the bed.
- Jen may have looked like death warmed over, but she was smiling.
- From the moment of life to the moment of death, he had the exact same look in his eyes, because he always kind of looked like death warmed over.
Kill someone, especially with official sanction. Example sentencesExamples - This is not achieved by objectifying murderers and putting them to death to serve as an example to others in the expectation that they might possibly be deterred thereby.
- Should either of you return to Prydyn for any reason and are discovered, as you certainly will be, you will be put to death.
- Gordon's reply was that he and his supporters ‘had not yet determined to murder the king and put him to death, they only considered that they were absolved from their allegiance’.
- Without a stay or clemency, Williams will be put to death at midnight Pacific Time.
- While about one quarter of murder victims in Texas are black males, since 1976 only 0.4 percent of prisoners executed in Texas have been put to death for murdering black victims.
- Legend tells us that some made amazing escapes from the very clutches of those about to put them to death.
- And generally what happens is when people seek the death penalty, jurors tend to want more evidence if they're going to put somebody to death than otherwise.
- But no one can put me to death if I play my music too loudly or invite my boyfriend over for the night.
- Remember, when Jesus challenged the authorities they put him to death.
- And the third thing is, if he was put to death, it would have a devastating impact on his family.
- A Briton on Death Row will have to wait until next week to hear whether he will be put to death by lethal injection.
- It makes no difference whether you put a man to death by word or by sword.
- I am still struggling with death penalty issues, as I can see where a case could be made that society is defending itself in putting someone to death.
- Longerich concurred, adding that Hitler's reference to the Slovakian Jews is significant because (as Hitler must by this time have known) they had been put to death in extermination camps.
- So if they are put to death then they will not be able to re-offend and be a threat to society any longer.
- Caiaphas, described as ‘bloodthirsty’ in the film, blackmails Pilate into putting Jesus to death.
- The 8th Circuit's ruling stood, and after having evaded execution on six previously scheduled dates, Singleton was put to death on Tuesday.
- She would ask visitors entering the city of Thebes to answer a riddle and if they could not answer they would be put to death.
- The acting, too, is well-suited to the demands of Greek theatre - particularly Matt Shapiro's portrayal of King Creon who is forced by the laws of Thebes to put Antigone to death for violating a religious decree.
Synonyms execute, hang, send to the gallows, send to the gibbet, behead, guillotine, decapitate, electrocute, send to the electric chair, send to the chair, shoot, put before a firing squad, send to the gas chamber, gas, crucify, stone, stone to death
till (or until) death us do part For as long as both people in a couple live. Example sentencesExamples - ‘In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part’: these are words spoken by grown-ups.
- This promise to love, honor, and cherish till death us do part was precisely a recognition of our new state of unity.
- God's blessing is bestowed on the couple's pledge of fidelity ‘till death us do part.’
- Christian marriage is almost defined in terms of loyalty: ‘to have and to hold… for richer, for poorer,… in sickness and in health,… till death us do part.’
- But maybe players will realise that the idea of planning your possible divorce before vowing ‘till death us do part’ is a victory for pragmatism over romance.
1Used of a particular action or process that results in someone's death. Example sentencesExamples - Forensic experts believe they now have a DNA profile of the person who stabbed her to death.
- Sometimes chickens will pick out the weakest one in the flock and peck it to death.
- In the call, he told his wife that one passenger already had been stabbed to death.
- A postmortem revealed he had bled to death after a single stab wound to the neck severed a main artery.
- I was sadly told the other day that a large majority of the cats had been poisoned to death.
- He was then caught on a nearby roundabout where he was beaten, stabbed and axed to death.
- The drama begins with the death of Melissa, whom Periander beats to death in a furious rage.
- He also had form, having nearly strangled Arlene to death just weeks both she disappeared.
- Police are to swamp a town with posters in a bid to identify the brutes who battered a father to death in front of his family.
- Earlier this year, trouble flared when a British teenager was stabbed to death outside a bar.
- The family of a security guard who was stabbed to death have appealed for help to find his killer.
- Once this was done, these men were axed and clubbed to death and thrown into the pit.
- Another was stoned to death for trying to leave the country with a man that was not a relative.
- If we cast our minds back many have been murdered, tortured, burned to death and persecuted.
- A heroin addict has spoken of the moment he used a heavy wooden lamp stand to beat two men to death as they slept in his flat.
- A burglar is believed to have choked to death after getting his neck trapped in a window of a home he was fleeing.
- This is a far cry from last year's parade where a man was stabbed to death on the route.
- The apparent weapon was sarin gas, a highly toxic nerve agent that causes victims to choke to death.
- She did not want to be beaten to death by these people for the sake of her mother.
- Of what use is decisive victory in battle, he asked, if we bleed to death as a result?
- 1.1Used to emphasize the extreme nature of a specific action, feeling, or state of mind.
the story scared me to death Example sentencesExamples - Workers are sick to death of the injustice of low pay for doing vital public service jobs.
- I've been sick to death of referees all season and it's people like him that lose us jobs.
- I'm sick to death of liberal commentators waffling on their opposition to the war.
- I think he came on this stupid quest thing just so he could annoy me to death.
- The Functionary had a bedraggled expression, like he'd been almost licked to death.
- However, I am sick to death of people maligning the elderly as burdens on society.
- Frankly, if it means being bored to death by a whining old former talent at a rally, I'd give it a miss.
- I was in very good company, and managed to bore some extremely nice people to death.
- I had to take the karate lesson as well, didn't have any kind of plan in mind, and talked myself to death.
- I am sure I am not the only person who is sick to death of the constant noise and mess.
- I am sick to death of people like you standing up and telling me how wrong I am.
- I am sick to death of reading letters in your newspaper about how bad bus drivers are.
- No wonder they're commentating on Grand Prix, they've bored their only friends to death.
Synonyms out of one's mind, to death, to tears, silly, stupid, sick
Example sentencesExamples - World War One soldiers knew their king and country expected them to fight to the death.
- This behavior has been exploited by fish fight organizers for years, so that the fish will fight to the death.
- They certainly don't herd sheep, but will fight to the death to kill their predators.
- They would probably fight to the death to defend him if it ever came to that.
- He knew it would more than likely be a death blow but it was a fight to the death.
- My theory is they do this to force people to buy two packets, in order to avoid that inevitable fight to the death.
- It looked over, but Thistle fought right to the death and refused to lie down.
- No one knows what the outcome will be, but it is certain that it will be a fight to the death.
- Feuding fish face a fight to the death with the unlucky loser sinking into oblivion.
- The type of friends one would fight to the death for, even though they knew the odds were against them.
- That way, he suggested, those who remain behind can fight to the death without fear that their cause will die with them.
- They were among thousands of slaves being trained to fight to the death in the arena for public entertainment.
- They certainly are not fighting to the death here and have quickly fled to the hills on the whiff of trouble.
- We cannot forget that we are at war, one our enemy declares is a fight to the death.
- We go on until all of you give up or until the last man is standing, a fight to the death.
- If they were foes he was prepared to quickly extend his claws and fight to the death.
- They are mean and petty and will fight each other to the death over one little tiny nut.
- This finally leads to the hero facing off against his adversary in a duel to the death.
- The scene is set for a fight to the death and then an appearance of the famous Trojan Horse.
- She is at once fiercely competitive and ladylike, a fighter to the death and yet a model of polite understatement.
Origin Old English dēath, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dood and German Tod, also to die. |