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kill or cure

Idioms  
  1. Either remedy a disease or kill the patient, as in The copy chief did not like her headline for the drug, “Kill or Cure.” This expression dates from the mid-1700s, when it was already being used half-jokingly.


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.

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Now, a local industry that has long operated in a near legal vacuum is facing an onslaught of legislative and regulatory initiatives that could amount to a "kill or cure" treatment.

From Reuters ● Oct. 4, 2011

Television was promising either to kill or cure the sports world.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is either going to kill or cure me.

From Time Magazine Archive

"It was quicksilver, kill or cure; and I'm mighty glad it's been cure."

From Jim Spurling, Fisherman or Making Good by Albert Walter Tolman

What is to be thought of the use of such remedies as will either kill or cure?

From Moral Principles and Medical Practice The Basis of Medical Jurisprudence by Charles Coppens

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