at death's door
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On the point of dying, very ill, as in Whenever she had a bad cold she acted as though she were at death's door. The association of death with an entry way was first made in English in the late 1300s, and the phrase itself dates from the mid-1500s. Today it is often used as an exaggeration of ill health.
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Words nearby at death's door
Atchafalaya, Atchison, at close quarters, at close range, at cross purposes, at death's door, at-desk, ate, at each other's throats, A Team, at ease
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.