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2 ADJ Someone who is didactic tells people things rather than letting them find things out or discussing things. [FORMAL ] □  He is more didactic in his approach to the learning process.

did|dle /d I d ^ə l/ (diddles , diddling , diddled )

1 VERB If someone diddles you, they take money from you dishonestly or unfairly. [mainly BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V n] They diddled their insurance company by making a false claim.

2 VERB If someone diddles , they waste time and do not achieve anything. [AM , INFORMAL ] □ [V around ] …if Congress were to just diddle around and not take any action at all.

did|geri|doo /d I dʒəriduː / (didgeridoos ) N‑COUNT A didgeridoo is an Australian musical instrument that consists of a long pipe which makes a low sound when you blow into it.

didn't /d I d ^ə nt/ Didn't is the usual spoken form of 'did not'.

die ◆◆◆ /da I / (dies , dying , died )

1 VERB [no passive] When people, animals, and plants die , they stop living. □ [V ] A year later my dog died. □ [V + of/from ] Sadly, both he and my mother died of cancer. □ [V n] I would die a very happy person if I could stay in music my whole life. □ [V adj] …friends who died young.

2 VERB [only cont] If a person, animal, or plant is dying , they are so ill or so badly injured that they will not live very much longer. □ [V ] The elm trees are all dying. □ [V + of/from ] Every working day I treat people who are dying from lung diseases caused by smoking.

3 VERB [no passive] If someone dies a violent, unnatural, or painful death, they die in a violent, unnatural, or painful way. □ [V n] He watched helplessly as his mother died an agonizing death.

4 VERB If a machine or device dies , it stops completely, especially after a period of working more and more slowly or inefficiently. [WRITTEN ] □ [V ] Then suddenly, the engine coughed, spluttered and died.

5 VERB [only cont] You can say that you are dying of thirst, hunger, boredom, or curiosity to emphasize that you are very thirsty, hungry, bored, or curious. [INFORMAL , EMPHASIS ] □ [V + of ] Order me a pot of tea, I'm dying of thirst.

6 VERB [only cont] You can say that you are dying for something or are dying to do something to emphasize that you very much want to have it or do it. [INFORMAL , EMPHASIS ] □ [V + for ] I'm dying for a breath of fresh air. □ [V to-inf] She was dying to talk to Frank.

7 VERB You can use die in expressions such as ' I almost died ' or ' I'd die if anything happened ' where you are emphasizing your feelings about a situation, for example to say that it is very shocking, upsetting, embarrassing, or amusing. [INFORMAL , mainly SPOKEN , EMPHASIS ] □ [V ] I nearly died when I learned where I was ending up. □ [V + of ] I nearly died of shame. □ [V v-ing] I thought I'd die laughing.

8 N‑COUNT A die is a specially shaped or patterned block of metal which is used to press or cut other metal into a particular shape.

9 → see also dying

10 PHRASE You can say that the die is cast to draw attention to the importance of an event or decision which is going to affect your future and which cannot be changed or avoided.

11 PHRASE If you say that habits or attitudes die hard , you mean that they take a very long time to disappear or change, so that it may not be possible to get rid of them completely. □  Old habits die hard.

▸  die away PHRASAL VERB If a sound dies away , it gradually becomes weaker or fainter and finally disappears completely. □ [V P ] The firing finally began to die away in the late afternoon.

▸  die down PHRASAL VERB If something dies down , it becomes very much quieter or less intense. □ [V P ] The controversy is unlikely to die down.

▸  die out