do-or-die
reflecting or characterized by an irrevocable decision to succeed at all costs; desperate; all-out: a do-or-die attempt to halt the invaders.
involving a potentially fatal crisis or crucial emergency.
Origin of do-or-die
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use do-or-die in a sentence
Soon after, Kim visited a naval base and ordered the navy to “raise heroes for do-or-die squads at sea.”
There is some evidence that Geithner himself knows that this is do-or-die time.
With Belden leading by one run, and the game almost over, Lakeville began the ninth inning with a do-or-die energy.
The Boy Scouts of Lakeville High | Leslie W. QuirkShe would come back, flushed and a little troubled-looking, but would go on with the dance with a do-or-die expression.
At Boarding School with the Tucker Twins | Nell SpeedBrill came to the bat for the third time with a sort of do-or-die look on the faces of the players.
The Rover Boys on a Tour | Arthur M. Winfield
The stranger had a most impressive and yet absurd air of drunken sternness written in his face, a do-or-die look.
Twelve Men | Theodore DreiserThey listened attentively, and went out on the diamond with a do-or-die expression written on their faces.
Bert Wilson's Fadeaway Ball | J. W. Duffield
British Dictionary definitions for do-or-die
(prenominal) of or involving a determined and sometimes reckless effort to succeed
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with do-or-die
Exert supreme effort because failure is close at hand, as in Carol was going to set up the computer, do or die. This hyperbolic expression in effect says one will not be deterred by any obstacle. [c. 1600]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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