First recorded in 1680–90
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Not having money is a life-and-death issue in America.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
"Militaries adopt AI to speed up processes such as target identification. But delegating life-and-death decisions to machines poses profound ethical and human rights risks," said Patrick Wilcken of Amnesty International.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
The context involves a simple and crucial choice — between excessive patience and an urgency grounded in life-and-death human realities.
From Salon ● Apr. 20, 2026
That is all Charles Flores is asking for, an “opportunity to be heard” on a life-and-death matter.
From Slate ● Feb. 13, 2026
Publicly, however, the parking meter had to stay so long as the mayor, the council, and the police force were locked in a life-and-death struggle with Onofre Martinez.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Must we really dwell, ladies, on the downsides of heterosexual dating, marriage, childbearing, and domestic labor as though they are issues of life and death?
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026
Leo has denounced the race for AI in the military field, saying that "delegating decisions concerning the life and death of human beings to machines" is a "destructive spiral".
From Barron's ● May 25, 2026
“With that action of stepping on the fumi-e, Rodrigues is basically embracing the mystery of life and death, which is what Jesus is,” says Mr. Scorsese.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
For more than a year, Scottish politicians have been grappling with matters of life and death as they debated one of the most contested bills in the history of devolution.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2026
I thought maybe Smithy had been right: there is no third thing, only life and death.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
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.
