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5 PHRASE If you say that you will fight to the death for something, you are emphasizing that you will do anything to achieve or protect it, even if you suffer as a consequence. [EMPHASIS ] □  She'd have fought to the death for that child.

6 PHRASE If you refer to a fight or contest as a fight to the death , you are emphasizing that it will not stop until the death or total victory of one of the opponents. [EMPHASIS ] □  He now faces a fight to the death to reach the quarter-finals.

7 PHRASE If you say that something is a matter of life and death , you are emphasizing that it is extremely important, often because someone may die or suffer great harm if people do not act immediately. [EMPHASIS ] □  Well, never mind, John, it's not a matter of life and death.

8 PHRASE If someone is put to death , they are executed. [FORMAL ] □  Those put to death by firing squad included three generals.

9 PHRASE You use to death after a verb to indicate that a particular action or process results in someone's death. □  He was stabbed to death. □  …relief missions to try to keep the country's population from starving to death. □  He almost bled to death after the bullet severed an artery.

10 PHRASE You use to death after an adjective or a verb to emphasize the action, state, or feeling mentioned. For example, if you are frightened to death or bored to death , you are extremely frightened or bored. [EMPHASIS ] □  He scares teams to death with his pace and power.

death|bed /de θbed/ (deathbeds ) N‑COUNT [usu sing, usu with poss, oft on N ] If someone is on their deathbed , they are in a bed and about to die. □  He promised his mother on her deathbed that he would never marry.

dea th blow also death-blow N‑SING If you say that an event or action deals a death blow to something such as a plan or hope, or is a death blow to something, you mean that it puts an end to it. [JOURNALISM ] □ [+ to ] The deportations would be a death blow to the peace process.

dea th camp (death camps ) N‑COUNT A death camp is a place where prisoners are kept, especially during a war, and where many of them die or are killed.

dea th cer|tifi|cate (death certificates ) N‑COUNT A death certificate is an official certificate signed by a doctor which states the cause of a person's death.

dea th duties N‑PLURAL Death duties were a tax which had to be paid on the money and property of someone who had died. This tax is now called inheritance tax . [BRIT ]

dea th knell also death-knell N‑SING If you say that something sounds the death knell for a particular person or thing, you mean it will cause that person or thing to fail, end, or cease to exist. □ [+ for ] The tax increase sounded the death knell for the business.

death|ly /de θli/

1 ADV [ADV adj] If you say that someone is deathly pale or deathly still, you are emphasizing that they are very pale or still, like a dead person. [LITERARY , EMPHASIS ] □  Bernadette turned deathly pale.

2 ADJ [ADJ n] If you say that there is a deathly silence or a deathly hush, you are emphasizing that it is very quiet. [LITERARY , EMPHASIS ] □  A deathly silence hung over the square.

dea th mask (death masks ) also death-mask N‑COUNT A death mask is a model of someone's face, which is made from a mould that was taken of their face soon after they died.

dea th pen|al|ty N‑SING The death penalty is the punishment of death used in some countries for people who have committed very serious crimes. □  If convicted for murder, both youngsters could face the death penalty.