verb
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dying
Explanation
Something that's dying is about to die or is getting ready to stop existing. A shriveled up plant that hasn't been watered in days is probably dying. Dying is a process that will happen to us all: living things eventually die. But non-living things can be dying, too: a battery that doesn't have much juice left is dying, and so is a TV show that's bombing in the ratings. A craft that's losing popularity can be called a dying art. States of extreme stress or anticipation can also be described as a form of dying, as in "I'm dying to know how this book ends!"
Vocabulary lists containing dying
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.
Canada says it will indefinitely suspend plans to expand its medically assisted dying law to people whose sole condition is mental illness, citing a lack of consensus on who would be eligible.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
“Imagine — the world is dying and you’re having breakfast like a king,” he told viewers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
"You have a 20% less chance of dying if you have the same team that looks after you," she said.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
“To his dying day,” the author writes, “it will give Britton much pleasure to pace around his house in Heinrich Himmler’s very comfortable pair of slippers.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Miss Myrt dying practically on the eve of school starting up.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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.
