- Die
- 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.
