- 1[countable] the fact of someone dying or being killed a sudden/violent/peaceful, etc. death the anniversary of his wife's death an increase in deaths from cancer He died a slow and painful death.
- 2[uncountable] the end of life; the state of being dead The victim bled to death before the ambulance arrived (= he died as a result of bleeding). He's drinking himself to death (= so that it will kill him). Police are trying to establish the cause of death. Do you believe in life after death? a death camp (= a place where prisoners are killed, usually in a war) He was sentenced to death (= to be executed ).
- 3[uncountable] death of something the permanent end or destruction of something the death of all my plans the death of fascism
- 4Death [uncountable] (literary) the power that destroys life, imagined as human in form Death is often shown in paintings as a human skeleton. Death marched in and took him away. see sudden death Idioms
so sick that you may die I suppose you won't be coming to the party if you're at death's door!
to worry or upset someone very much Those kids will be the death of me.
to catch a very bad cold
(often used in newspapers) to survive in a situation where you could have died
to do or perform something so often that people become tired of seeing or hearing it That joke's been done to death.
a terrible thing that could happen At the last minute the hero saves her from a fate worse than death.
to fight until one of the two people or groups is dead, or until one person or group defeats the other
an event that seems good, but is certain to make something else fail
the possibility or belief that people continue to exist in some form after they die Do you believe in life after death?
to look or feel very sick or tired
used to describe a situation that is very important or serious
to kill someone as a punishment synonym execute The prisoner will be put to death at dawn.
to frighten someone very much Spiders scare him to death.
extremely; very much to be bored to death I'm sick to death of your endless criticism.
until someone is dead a fight to the death
Check pronunciation: death