To die in the last ditch

To die in the last ditch
Die Die, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Died}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Dying}.] [OE. deyen, dien, of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. deyja; akin to Dan. d["o]e, Sw. d["o], Goth. diwan (cf. Goth. afd?jan to harass), OFries. d?ia to kill, OS. doian to die, OHG. touwen, OSlav. daviti to choke, Lith. dovyti to torment. Cf. {Dead}, {Death}.] 1. To pass from an animate to a lifeless state; to cease to live; to suffer a total and irreparable loss of action of the vital functions; to become dead; to expire; to perish; -- said of animals and vegetables; often with of, by, with, from, and rarely for, before the cause or occasion of death; as, to die of disease or hardships; to die by fire or the sword; to die with horror at the thought. [1913 Webster]

To die by the roadside of grief and hunger. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]

She will die from want of care. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]

2. To suffer death; to lose life. [1913 Webster]

In due time Christ died for the ungodly. --Rom. v. 6. [1913 Webster]

3. To perish in any manner; to cease; to become lost or extinct; to be extinguished. [1913 Webster]

Letting the secret die within his own breast. --Spectator. [1913 Webster]

Great deeds can not die. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]

4. To sink; to faint; to pine; to languish, with weakness, discouragement, love, etc. [1913 Webster]

His heart died within, and he became as a stone. --1 Sam. xxv. 37. [1913 Webster]

The young men acknowledged, in love letters, that they died for Rebecca. --Tatler. [1913 Webster]

5. To become indifferent; to cease to be subject; as, to die to pleasure or to sin. [1913 Webster]

6. To recede and grow fainter; to become imperceptible; to vanish; -- often with out or away. [1913 Webster]

Blemishes may die away and disappear amidst the brightness. --Spectator. [1913 Webster]

7. (Arch.) To disappear gradually in another surface, as where moldings are lost in a sloped or curved face. [1913 Webster]

8. To become vapid, flat, or spiritless, as liquor. [1913 Webster]

{To die in the last ditch}, to fight till death; to die rather than surrender. [1913 Webster]

``There is one certain way,'' replied the Prince [William of Orange] `` by which I can be sure never to see my country's ruin, -- I will die in the last ditch.'' --Hume (Hist. of Eng. ).

{To die out}, to cease gradually; as, the prejudice has died out.

Syn: To expire; decease; perish; depart; vanish. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Die — Die, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Died}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Dying}.] [OE. deyen, dien, of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. deyja; akin to Dan. d[ o]e, Sw. d[ o], Goth. diwan (cf. Goth. afd?jan to harass), OFries. d?ia to kill, OS. doian to die, OHG. touwen, OSlav …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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