die
[verb]
Synonyms:
- pass away, breathe one's last, croak (slang), expire, give up the ghost, kick the bucket (slang), peg out (informal), perish, snuff it (slang)
- dwindle, decay, decline, fade, sink, subside, wane, wilt, wither
- stop, break down, fade out or away, fail, fizzle out, halt, lose power, peter out, run down
- be dying: long, ache, be eager, desire, hunger, pine for, yearn

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Antonyms: live
Contrasted words: be, exist, subsist, flourish, thrive
Related Idioms: be gathered to one's fathers, bite the dust (or ground), breathe one's last, cash in one's checks (or chips), give up the ghost, kick the bucket, kick up one's heels, meet one's end, shuffle off this mortal coil, snuff it, turn up one's toes (to the daisies)

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English Thesaurus: die, pass away, pass on, lose your life, perish, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. die¹ S1 W1 /daɪ/ verb (past tense and past participle died, present participle dying, third person singular dies) [intransitive]
[Date: 1100-1200; Origin: Probably from Old Norse deyja]

1. BECOME DEAD to stop living and become dead:
He died in 1985 at the age of 76.
Her father died suddenly in an accident when she was only ten.
die of/from
The animals died of starvation in the snow.
patients who are dying from cancer
She died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 98.
die for something (=be killed while fighting to defend something)
Do you believe in anything enough to die for it?
die young/happy/poor
She died young, at the age of 27.
The bullet went straight through his head, and he died instantly.
to your dying day/until the day you die (=until you die)
It must remain a secret until the day I die.
sb’s dying breath/wish (=someone’s last breath or wish)
It was his dying wish that the house be opened to the public.
die a hero/martyr/rich man etc
My uncle died a hero.
die a natural/violent/agonizing death
Did she die a natural death? (=did she die naturally, or did someone kill her?)

2. DISAPPEAR to disappear or stop existing:
Our love will never die.
The family name will die with him (=disappear when he dies).
He’s one of a dying breed (=a type of person that is no longer common).

3. MACHINES informal to stop working Synonym : break down:
The engine spluttered and died.
die on somebody (=stop working while they are using it)
The mower just died on me.

4. be dying for something/to do something spoken to want something very much:
I’m dying for a cup of tea.
She was dying to ask where he’d got it.
I’m dying to see what it is.

5. be dying of hunger/thirst/boredom spoken to be very hungry, thirsty, bored etc:
Do you fancy a cup of tea? I’m dying of thirst.

6. I nearly died/I could have died spoken used to say that you felt very surprised or embarrassed:
I nearly died when I saw it was my ex-husband!

7. die of embarrassment/shame to be very embarrassed or ashamed:
The room was such a mess, I just died of embarrassment.

8. I’d rather die spoken used to say very strongly that you do not want to do something:
I’d rather die than work for him!

9. in the dying minutes/seconds/moments (of something) during the last minutes or seconds before the end of something:
United scored an equaliser in the dying minutes of the game.

10. old habits/traditions/customs die hard used to say that it takes a long time to change to a new way of doing something

11. never say die spoken used to encourage someone to continue doing something that is difficult

12. die a/the death informal to gradually fail or be forgotten:
The rumour gradually died a death.

13. die laughing spoken to laugh a lot:
We nearly died laughing when he told us.

14. to die for informal extremely nice, attractive, or desirable:
She had hair to die for.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. die² noun [countable]

1. a metal block used to press or cut something into a particular shape

2.
a dice

3. the die is cast used to say that a decision has been taken and cannot now be changed

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

die
verb
ADV. in childbirth | in infancy, prematurely, young One of their children died in infancy.
peacefully | suddenly | tragically Her father died tragically in a car crash.
VERB + DIE be going to I thought I was going to die.
be allowed to She should be allowed to die peacefully.
PREP. for to die for your country
from The accident victim died from her injuries.
of He died of a heart attack.
PHRASES die a natural sudden, violent, etc. death

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

die

die instantly (=as soon as an accident, injury etc happens)
He was shot in the head and died instantly.
die suddenly
She died suddenly of a heart attack, in Amsterdam.
die young
They had seven children and three of them died young.
die alone
He had a fear of dying alone.
die unmarried
He died unmarried in 1922.
die aged 35/50 etc
Her father died aged 84.
die peacefully (=calmly and without pain)
The nurses said that she died very peacefully.
die tragically
His wife had died tragically in an accident.
die penniless (=without any money)
Van Gogh died penniless because nobody bought his paintings.
die in your sleep
During the night he died in his sleep.
die in suspicious/mysterious circumstances (=used to say that someone may have been killed)
He got involved with drug dealers and died in mysterious circumstances.
die a natural death (=of natural causes, rather than being killed)
The coroner concluded that Wilkins had died a natural death.
die a sudden/violent/slow etc death
At the end of the play, the main character dies a violent death.
die a hero/rich man etc
He died a hero on the battlefield.
die in childbirth (=giving birth to a baby)
More women died in childbirth in the past.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

die
verb
1.
BAD: Her husband was died two years earlier.
GOOD: Her husband had died two years earlier.

Usage Note:
When you are talking about an event, use die (dying, died, died ).
When you are talking about a state, use be dead . Compare: He died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.' 'By the time the ambulance reached the hospital, he was dead.'
See also note at DEAD 1 (dead)

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2.
BAD: People say she died with pneumonia.
GOOD: People say she died of pneumonia.

Usage Note:
die of/from a disease, heart attack, hunger etc (NOT with ): 'Of these, one in ten will die of lung cancer.' 'Her husband died of a heart attack.' 'Each year over a million children die from diarrhoea.'
die of shame/embarrassment/grief/despair/shock etc: 'When he told me the price, I nearly died of shock.' 'The poor girl almost died of fright.'
die from the effects of violence, pollution etc: 'He died from a bullet wound in the chest.' 'Police predict that more people will die from their injuries.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

die to stop being alive, as a result of old age or illness:
I want to see Ireland again before I die.
No wonder your plants always die – you don’t water them enough.
His son died of liver cancer three years ago.
pass away to die – used when you want to avoid using the word ‘die’, in order to show respect or to avoid upsetting someone:
My wife had just passed away, and I didn’t want to be around people.
pass on to pass away – use this especially when you believe that the soul has a life after the death of the body:
I’m sorry, Emily, but your mother has passed on.
lose your life to be killed in a terrible event:
Hundreds of people lost their lives when the ship overturned in a storm.
perish literary to die in a terrible event – used especially in literature and news reports:
Five children perished before firefighters could put out the blaze.
give your life/lay down your life formal to die in order to save someone, or because of something that you believe in:
We honor the men and women who have given their lives in service of their country.
drop dead informal to suddenly die, when people do not expect you to:
One day, he came home from work and dropped dead of a heart attack.
kick the bucket/pop your clogs British English, buy the farm American English informal to die – used when you are not talking seriously about death:
It’s not like I’m going to kick the bucket tomorrow.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

die
̈ɪdaɪ
See: cross one's heart or cross one's heart and hope to die , do-or-die , never say die

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲