death rattle

American  

noun

1. a sound produced by a person immediately preceding death, resulting from the passage of air through the mucus in the throat.

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death rattle British  

noun

1. a low-pitched gurgling sound sometimes made by a dying person, caused by air passing through an accumulation of mucus in the trachea

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Etymology

Origin of death rattle

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

“It’s hard not to see this as, like, the final death rattle of an era.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 23, 2026

"At the end there can be a death rattle - a sound of hard breathing that can be frightening for people in the room," she says.

From BBC • May 2, 2026

"This is the death rattle of a movement that just cannot adapt to a changing world and to a community that is saying, 'We're not hiding in the shadows anymore.'"

From Reuters • Jul. 6, 2023

What’s come since has been the death rattle, and remixes of that death rattle.”

From New York Times • May 1, 2023

Then, for no apparent reason, he let out a terrible scream, a death rattle such as I had never heard before and, with open mouth, thrust his head toward the still steaming liquid.

From "Night" by Elie Wiesel