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Meaning & use

life or death

adjective, phrase·Everyday

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UK/ˌlaɪf ɔː ˈdeθ/
US/ˌlaɪf ɔːr ˈdeθ/

Meanings

  1. adjectivebefore a noun

    So serious that it decides whether someone survives or dies, or extremely important in a similar way.

    Grammar: Comes before a noun: a life-or-death decision, not the decision was life or death in this use.

    Patterns

    • a life-or-death situation
    • a life-or-death decision

    The paramedics faced a life-or-death situation at the crash.

    Surgeons make life-or-death decisions every day.

    It was a life-or-death struggle for the small farm.

  2. phrasefixed phrasefigurative

    Used to say that something is a matter of survival or extremely urgent, often after the verb be.

    Grammar: Often after is or was: it is a matter of life or death.

    Patterns

    • a matter of life or death
    • it is life or death

    For the trapped hikers, finding water was a matter of life or death.

    Don't panic, it's not life or death.

    The call was urgent, and he said it was life or death.

Common combinations

a matter of life or death
Getting help quickly was a matter of life or death.
life-or-death situation
Nurses handle a life-or-death situation calmly.
life-or-death decision
The captain made a life-or-death decision.
life-or-death struggle
The two teams fought a life-or-death struggle for the title.
not exactly life or death
Being late is not exactly life or death.

Synonyms and how they differ

critical
Is more general, meaning vital or crucial, and does not always involve survival.
matter of survival
Is similar but more plain and less idiomatic.
dire
Means extremely serious or bad, but does not state a choice between living and dying.
urgent
Only means needing quick action; life or death means the stakes are survival.

Opposites

trivialminor

Word family

life noun
the state of being alive
death noun
the end of life
lifesaving adjective
able to save a life
deadly adjective
likely to cause death

Commonly confused: life or death or life and death?

life or death vs life and death

Life and death usually names the whole range of human existence, while life or death names a choice between two outcomes.

Practice

The doctor said it was a ____ situation and rushed the patient to surgery.

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