die
verb/daɪ/
/daɪ/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they die | /daɪ/ /daɪ/ |
| he / she / it dies | /daɪz/ /daɪz/ |
| past simple died | /daɪd/ /daɪd/ |
| past participle died | /daɪd/ /daɪd/ |
| -ing form dying | /ˈdaɪɪŋ/ /ˈdaɪɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] to stop living
- My father died suddenly at the age of 48.
- At least six people have died in the accident.
- That plant's going to die if you don't water it!
- He later died in hospital.
- They died fighting for their country.
- She died peacefully after a long illness.
- to die with dignity
- die of/from something to die of/from cancer (= cancer is the cause of death)
- die with something A further 156 people have died with Covid-19 (= they had the disease when they died).
- die for something He was ready to die for his cause.
- I'll never forget it to my dying day (= until I die).
- (informal) I nearly died when I saw him there (= it was very embarrassing).
- die a… death to die a natural/slow/horrible/violent death
- die + adj. She died young.
- At least they died happy.
- die + noun He died a hero.
- He died a poor man.
Extra ExamplesTopics Life stagesa1- Her husband died suddenly last week.
- That plant's died.
- He died for his beliefs.
- Her father died tragically in a car crash.
- 30 000 people died as a result of the earthquake.
- A dog lay dying in the road.
- I nearly died when they told me the price.
- I thought I was going to die.
- One of their children died in infancy.
- She should be allowed to die peacefully.
- The accident victim died from her injuries.
- to die for your country
- Her father died of cancer.
- I'm not afraid to die.
- She died a natural death.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- peacefully
- suddenly
- unexpectedly
- …
- be going to
- be allowed to
- for
- from
- of
- …
- die a natural, violent, etc. death
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- [intransitive] to stop existing; to disappear
- The old customs are dying.
- His secret died with him (= he never told anyone).
- The words died on my lips (= I stopped speaking).
- [intransitive] (of a machine) to stop working
- My phone died and I had no way to contact you.
- The engine spluttered and died.
- My car just died on me.
Word Originverb Middle English: from Old Norse deyja, of Germanic origin; related to dead.
Idioms
See die in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee die in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbe dying for something/to do something
- (informal) to want something or want to do something very much
- I'm dying for a glass of water.
- I'm dying to know what happened.
cross my heart (and hope to die)
- (informal) used to emphasize that you are telling the truth or will do what you promise
- I saw him do it—cross my heart.
die a/the death
- (British English, informal) to fail completely
- The play got terrible reviews and quickly died a death.
die in your bed
- to die because you are old or ill
die laughing
- to find something extremely funny
- I nearly died laughing when she said that.
die/fall/drop like flies
- (informal) to die or become ill and fall down in very large numbers
- People were dropping like flies in the intense heat.
do or die
- a situation where you need to act in a very determined way or taking a great risk, because there is no alternative
- At this stage in the competition it's do or die.
never say die
- (saying) do not stop hoping
old habits, traditions, etc. die hard
- used to say that things change very slowly
to die for
- (informal) if you think something is to die for, you really want it, and would do anything to get it
- She was wearing a dress to die for.
Check pronunciation:
die