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.
She added: “I love the feel of being under the gun, under pressure. It’s not like a life-and-death situation, but you know that adrenaline that you get…”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
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
“Kinda. It’s like the life-and-death cycle,” said Aru.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
For them it has been a matter of life and death for decades—and that is the one thing no one is talking about.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
Travolta’s perspective on life and death seems collective, almost optimistic, as if dying is merely a long-haul journey between this existence and the next, with everyone he’s loved and lost waiting there with open arms.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 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
They experienced a rarefied state — a gap between life and death as narrow as the notch they were attempting to clear at dusk Saturday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
The power of life and death cannot be handed out blithely, but only with stoic and weighty reserve.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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.
