List of expressions related to death

This is a list of words and phrases related to death in alphabetical order. While some of them are slang, others euphemise the unpleasantness of the subject, or are used in formal contexts. Some of the phrases may carry the meaning of 'kill', or simply contain words related to death. Most of them are idioms.

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Expression	Definition	Context	Remarks
To answer the final summons	To die	Euphemistic
Assume room temperature	To die	Euphemistic slang	Used frequently by talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh on The Rush Limbaugh Show, generally when a dictator or an avowed enemy of the United States has died. Originally used in his first book, The Way Things Ought to Be. See also Jargon of The Rush Limbaugh Show.
At peace	Dead	Euphemistic
To die with one's boots on[citation needed]	To die while able, or during activity, as opposed to in infirmity or while asleep	Euphemistic	Old West usage: To die in a gunfight. Also connotes dying in combat. British; Cf Iron Maiden's Die With Your Boots On
At rest	Dead	Polite
To bite the big one	To die	Informal	North American.
To bite the dust	To be killed	Informal	Also means 'failed'
To blow someone's brains out	To shoot someone in the head	Slang
Beyond the grave	After death	Neutral	The preposition 'from' is often added before the phrase.
Beyond the veil	The mysterious place after death	Neutral	Originally used to refer to the 'veil' that hides the inmost sanctuary of the Temple in Jerusalem. Sometimes refers to just a mysterious place.
To breathe one's last	To die	Literary
To buy the farm	To die	Informal	North American.
To cash in one's chips	To die	Informal, Euphemistic	This idiom refers to the counters in gambling called 'chips', which are exchanged for cash at the end of the game.
To come to a sticky end	To die in a way that is considered unpleasant	Humorous	British. Also 'to meet a sticky end'
To count worms	To die	Euphemistic
To croak	To kill	Slang	Also means to die
Dead as a dodo	Dead	Informal	The term 'dodo' originally comes from the Portuguese word duodo, meaning simpleton. It was applied to the extinct bird because of their lack of intelligence led to their extinction. Therefore, it has been used as an old-fashioned or stupid person since 19th century. Also 'dead as the dodo'.
Dead as a doornail	Obviously dead	Informal	Charles Dickens used this phrase at the beginning of A Christmas Carol.
To depart this life	To die	Neutral
Done for	About to die	Neutral	Also means 'to be in a bad situation of which one cannot get out'
Drop dead	Die suddenly	Neutral	'Just drop dead' is a rude way of telling someone to get lost.
To go over the Big Ridge	To die	Unknown
To be fading away	To be thinner and weaker and close to death	Neutral	Also 'to be fading fast' or 'sinking fast'
To fall off one's perch	To die	Informal
Food for worms	Someone who is dead	Neutral
To give up the ghost	To die	Neutral	Also means 'to stop working' or 'to give up hope'. The Old English meaning of the word 'ghost' is preserved in this idiom.
To go bung	To die	Informal	Australian. Also means 'to fail' or 'to go bankrupt'.
To go for a Burton	To die / break irreparably	Informal	British. From WWII (Gone for a Burton).
To go home in a box	To be shipped to one's birthplace, dead	Slang, Euphemistic	Often exaggerated
To go to a better place	Reference to going to heaven, which is perceived to be better than earth
To go to a Texas cakewalk	To be hanged	Unknown
To go to Davy Jones's locker	To drown or otherwise die at sea	Euphemistic	Peregrine Pickle describes Davy Jones as 'the fiend that presides over all the evil sprits of the deep'.
To go to the last roundup	To die	Unknown
To go the way of all flesh	To die	Neutral	Also means to come to an end. In the Authorized King James Version of the bible 'all flesh' means 'all humans and animals'.
To go to one's reward	To die	Euphemistic	This phrase comes from the idea that people get their just deserts after they die.
To go to one's watery grave	To die of drowning	Literary	The death is referred to as a watery grave.
To go west	To be killed or lost	Informal	Refers to the sun setting at the west.
The Grim Reaper	Personification of death	Cultural	A skeleton with a scythe, often in a cloak
To hand in one's dinner pail	To die	Informal	A dinner pail is a bucket in which a workman used to carry his dinner. See 'kick the bucket' below.
To have bought it	To be killed	Slang
To have one foot in the grave	To be close to death because of illness or age	Informal, sometimes humorous
To hop on the last rattler	To die	Euphemistic
To hop the twig	To die	Informal	British. Also 'to hop the stick'. Also means 'to depart suddenly'.
One's hour has come	One thinks he's going to die	Literary
On one's last legs	About to die	Informal
In Abraham's bosom	In heaven	Neutral	From the Holy Bible, Luke 16:22.
To join the great majority	To die	Euphemistic	First used by Edward Young, but the phrase 'the majority' is extremely old.
To go to the big location in the sky	To die and go to heaven	Informal	'Location' is a fancied venue in the afterlife that parallels an earthly venue associated with the deceased, such as "Big ranch in the sky".
To kick the bucket	To die	Informal	One theory says that it comes from a method of suicide of the Middle Ages in which one stands inside a bucket with a noose tied around their neck. Once they kick the bucket, they are hanged. Another theory is the kind of beam from which a pig is suspended, which is also called a 'bucket' in the Norfolk dialect. Also 'kick off' (American).
To kick the calendar	To die	Slang, Informal	Polish saying. 'Calendar' implies somebody's time of death (kicking at particular moment of time)
Killed In Action (KIA)	Death of a military person due to enemy action.	Military language, official and informal use.	Official military language brought to public attention by widespread use in media during the Vietnam War and later books and films on that war. Term continues to be used in connection with military deaths due to enemy activity.
King of Terrors	Personification of death	Neutral
To lose one's life	To die in an accident or violent event	Neutral
To make the ultimate sacrifice	To die while fighting for a cause	Formal	Also 'make the supreme sacrifice'
To meet one's maker	To die	Humorous, Euphemistic	Comes from the Christian belief that a soul needs to see God, its 'maker', after his life for judgment.
Off the hooks	Dead	Informal	British. Not to be confused with 'off the hook' (no longer in trouble).
Not long for this world	Will die soon; have little time left to live	Old-fashioned	Also not be long for this world
One's number is up	One is going to die	Slang
On one's deathbed	Dying	Neutral
To pass away	To die	Polite	Also 'to pass on'
To pass in one's alley	To die	Informal	Australian
To pay the ultimate price	To die because of something one has done	Neutral	Often applied to a moral reason
To peg out	To die	Slang	British. Also means 'to stop working'
To pop one's clogs	To die	Humorous, Informal	British.
Promoted to Glory	Death of a Salvationist	Formal	Salvation Army terminology.
To push up daisies	To die	Humorous, Euphemistic	This idiom dates back to the early 20th century. Also 'under the daisies' and 'turn one's toes up to the daisies, which date back to the mid 19th century. See 'to turn up one's toes' below.
To put one to the sword	To kill someone	Literary
To ride the pale horse	To die	Euphemistic	In the Biblical passage Revelation 6:8, a pale horse is ridden by Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The expression "behold a pale horse" has been used as the title of a 1964 film by Fred Zinnemann and a 1991 book by ufologist William Milton Cooper.
To send one to eternity	To kill someone	Literary
To shuffle off this mortal coil	To die	Humorous, Literary	Quoted from Shakespeare's Hamlet. Sometimes used as 'this mortal coil' to refer to the fact that one is alive in a troublesome way.
Sleeps with the fishes	Murdered, then disposed of in water.	Slang	Popularized by The Godfather
To be struck down	To be killed by an illness	Neutral	Usually passive
Six feet under	Dead	Informal	Six feet is the traditional depth of a grave
To snuff it	To die	Informal	British
To take a dirt nap	To die and be buried	Slang
To take a last bow	To die	Euphemistic
To take one's life	To kill someone	Formal	To take one's own life means to commit suicide.
Tango uniform	Dead, irreversibly broken	Military slang	This is "T.U." in the ICAO spelling alphabet, an abbreviation for Tits Up.
To turn up one's toes	To die	Informal	An alternative of 'turn one's toes up to the daisies' (See 'push up daisies' above.)
Until one's dying day	As long as one lives	Neutral
Wearing a pine overcoat[citation needed]	Dead	Slang	Idiom used by American gangsters of the early 20th Century.
With one's last breath	Before one dies	Literary

See also

• Wikisaurus:die
• Wikisaurus:death