life-or-death
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of life-or-death
First recorded in 1680–90
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.
“We are currently facing an urgent, life-or-death crisis.”
Lots of life-or-death moments lead to death and destruction, as well as one major character’s death.
From Washington Post
Mr. Zelensky has also shed the second-guessing he exhibited last summer about life-or-death military decisions, and has accumulated the stature to be able to fire top officials to cleanse his administration of corruption.
From New York Times
Man 1 does not have much of an existential crisis alone in the desert even when he is faced with critical life-or-death situations.
From Salon
The pandemic has forced Americans to wrestle with life-or-death choices every day of the past 18 months — and there’s no end in sight.
From New York Times
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.
