Dictionary

pay the debt of nature en · VERB

Meanings

1. (euphemistic) To die.
   • Ten years after he had seen his son married^([sic]), become a church member, and give up his carnal delights, old Deacon Smith paid the debt of nature. His last days he always called his best days. 1850, T. S. Arthur, “Deacon Smith and his Violin”, in Sketches of Life and Character, Philadelphia: J. W. Bradley, →OCLC, page 76:
   • The venerable father of the human race had now himself paid the debt of nature. 1828, Henry Hunter, Sacred biography, or, The history of the patriarchs, volume 1, page 36:

Forms

Synonyms

pay nature's debt