cradle-to-grave
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of cradle-to-grave
First recorded in 1940–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This "cradle-to-grave" approach considers inputs such as fertilizer, water, and energy, along with outputs like emissions and waste.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 23, 2026
This pivot away from the cradle-to-grave approach is likely due in part to what Mangold described last year as “the pejorative way people refer to musical biopics.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025
Villarreal: Typically with musical biopics, or often with musical biopics, it’s sometimes a cradle-to-grave story.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2025
Her stoicism captures the reverence that Britons have for their cradle-to-grave health system, but also their rueful sense that it is broken.
From New York Times ● Jul. 16, 2023
There was more than one event in the cradle-to-grave career of Madame Jumel that called for and received the kindly mystery shroud.
From Superwomen by Albert Payson Terhune
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
