definitions
  • synonyms

right-to-die

[ rahyt-tuh-dahy ]
/ ˈraɪt təˈdaɪ /

adjective

asserting or advocating the right to refuse extraordinary medical measures to prolong one's life when one is terminally ill or irreversibly comatose: right-to-die laws.

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Nearby words

right-of-center, right-on, right-side out, right-side up, right-thinking, right-to-die, right-to-know, right-to-left shunt, right-to-life, right-to-work, right-to-work law

Origin of right-to-die

First recorded in 1975–80
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Medicine definitions for right-to-die

right-to-die

adj.

Advocating or expressing, as in a living will, a person's right to refuse extraordinary life-sustaining measures intended to prolong life artificially when the person is deemed by his or her physicians to be terminally or incurably ill.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.