Dictionary

breathe one's last en · VERB

Etymology

Perhaps first used in Shakespeare's Henry VI, part 3 (c. 1591). Compare breathe (“to live”).

Meanings

1. (euphemistic, idiomatic) To die.
   • The Green Council” is a tense chess game of an episode, kicking off the power vacuum that we knew was coming the moment Viserys breathed his last. 2022 October 16, Jenna Scherer, “An enticing House Of The Dragon crowns Westeros' new ruler”, in AV Club:
   • She breathed her last surrounded by her family and friends, commending them to God and the study of his word. 1852 September 9, Thomas J. Plummer, “Obituary notices”, in The Millennial Harbinger, page 120:
   • Ah, Warwick! Montague hath breathed his last; And to the latest gasp cried out for Warwick, c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
2. (uncommon) To be defeated.
   • For the longest while, the loss didn't seem real. For going on four hours, I'd done pretty much what I wanted to on that mound. I couldn't just shut that off, now that we had finally breathed our last. 2009, Ron Darling with Daniel Paisner, The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching, and Life on the Mound, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, page 236:

Forms

Synonyms

draw one's last breath · breathe one's last breath