at death's door

at death's door

See also: at Death's door

English

Alternative forms

• at Death's door

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Prepositional phrase

at death's door

1. (idiomatic) About to die; in a life-threatening state of health.

   Synonyms: knocking on heaven's door, on one's deathbed

   • 1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter IX, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume III, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, OCLC 17487293, page 235:

     The minstrel woman who left the Castle yesterday has spread the report everywhere, that the Duke of Rothsay is murdered, or at death's door.

   • 1913 August, Jack London, chapter XXXII, in John Barleycorn, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., OCLC 264225, page 290:

     One of my Polynesian sailors lay at death's door with blackwater fever.

   • 2008, Josh Quittner, "Bill Gates: PC Genius, Internet Fool," Time, 29 June:

     Clearly, a business with $26 billion in cash reserves isn't exactly at death's door.

Translations

about to die

Ainu: マイマイケ (maymayke) Catalan: a les portes de la mort Chinese: Mandarin: 瀕臨死亡／濒临死亡 (bīnlín sǐwáng) Finnish: kuolemaisillaan, kuoleman kielissä French: aux portes de la mort, à l'agonie, à l'article de la mort (fr) Galician: ás portas da morte German: an der Schwelle des Todes Icelandic: dauðvona (is) m, liggja fyrir dauðanum, vera langt leiddur, vera í andarslitrunum, berja nestið Irish: ar deireadh Italian: al capolinea, al lumicino Latin: moribundus (la), capulāris Maori: whakahemohemo Norman: au nom d'mort, sus l'pus, au pas d'la mort Polish: jedną nogą w grobie, na łożu śmierci, u progu śmierci Portuguese: às portas da morte (pt), nas portas da morte Romanian: cu un picior în groapă, în pragul morții, pe moarte Russian: при́ сме́рти (ru) (prí smérti) (preposition stressed), на сме́ртном одре́ (ru) (na smértnom odré), одно́й ного́й в моги́ле (odnój nogój v mogíle), на краю́ гро́ба (na krajú gróba) Spanish: a las últimas Turkish: ölümün eşiğinde Welsh: wrth borth marwolaeth

See also

• final curtain