Dictionary

at death's door en · ADP

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) About to die; in a life-threatening state of health.
   • And the "events" were not all on the board. It may help the reader to know that K. O. Mott-Smith was literally at death's door in mid-game. His double survival prompted him to send us the game and comments. 1961 May, “Postal Games”, in Chess Review:
   • The minstrel woman who left the Castle yesterday has spread the report everywhere, that the Duke of Rothsay is murdered, or at death's door. 1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter IX, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume III, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 235:
   • Clearly, a business with $26 billion in cash reserves isn't exactly at death's door. 2008 June 29, Josh Quittner, “Bill Gates: PC Genius, Internet Fool”, in Time:
   • One of my Polynesian sailors lay at death's door with blackwater fever. 1913 August, Jack London, chapter XXXII, in John Barleycorn, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 290:

Forms

Relateds

final curtain

Synonyms

knocking on heaven's door · in extremis · on one's deathbed

Translations (41)

pl u progu śmierci (about to die) · fi kuolemaisillaan (about to die) · is berja nestið (about to die) · ro pe moarte (about to die) · la moribundus (about to die) · it al lumicino (about to die) · ga ar deireadh (about to die) · mi whakahemohemo (about to die) · pt nas portas da morte (about to die) · fi kuoleman kielissä (about to die) · nrf au nom d'mort (about to die) · pl jedną nogą w grobie (about to die) · pl na łożu śmierci (about to die) · cmn 瀕臨死亡 /濒临死亡 (about to die) · it al capolinea (about to die) · fr à l'article de la mort (about to die) · la capulāris (about to die) · ru одно́й ного́й в моги́ле (about to die) · ru на сме́ртном одре́ (about to die) · is vera langt leiddur (about to die) · ro în pragul morții (about to die) · cy wrth borth marwolaeth (about to die) · fr aux portes de la mort (about to die) · de an der Schwelle des Todes (about to die) · nrf au pas d'la mort (about to die) · pt às portas da morte (about to die) · ro cu un picior în groapă (about to die) · is liggja fyrir dauðanum (about to die) · ca a les portes de la mort (about to die) · is dauðvona (about to die) · az bir ayağı burda, bir ayağı gorda (about to die) · pt no bico do corvo (about to die) · fr à l'agonie (about to die) · ru на краю́ гро́ба (about to die) · tr ölümün eşiğinde (about to die) · nrf sus l'pus (about to die) · es a las últimas (about to die) · is vera í andarslitrunum (about to die) · gl ás portas da morte (about to die) · ru при́ сме́рти (about to die) · ain マイマイケ (about to die)