▪ I. die, n.1
(daɪ)
Pl. dice (daɪs), dies (daɪz). Forms: 4–5 dee, 6–8 dye, dy, 6– die. pl. 4 des, 4–5 dees, deys, dys, 4–6 dyse, dyce, 5–6 dis(e, (dysse, 6 dyyss), 5– dice; also 5–6 dyes, 5– dies. Also sing. 4– 5 dyse, 5–6 dyce, 5–7 dice; pl. 4–5 dyces, 5 dises, dices, dycys.
[Early ME. dē, dee, pl. dēs, dees, a. OF. de (nom. sing. and obl. pl. 12–14th c. dez), mod.F. dé, pl. dés = Pr. dat, datz, Cat. dau, Sp., It. dado; in form:—L. datum, subst. use of datus, -um ‘given’, pa. pple. of dare to give. It is inferred that, in late pop. L., datum was taken in the sense ‘that which is given or decreed (sc. by lot or fortune)’, and was so applied to the dice by which this was determined. Latinized mediæval forms from It. and Fr. were dadus, decius.
In late OF. the form dey occurs in 14th c.; and dez was sometimes used in sing. down to 17th c.: cf. the 14–17th c. Eng. use of dice as sing. The remarkable point in the history of the Eng. word is the change of dē, dēs, to dȳ, dȳs, (dyse, dyce, dice), in the ME. period. The oldest Chaucer MSS., Harl., Ellesm., Hengwrt, have dees, which also survived as late as 1484 in Caxton, but dys occurs in the other Chaucer MSS., and in rime in the Bodleian MS. of Kyng Alisaunder, part of which is in the Auchinleck MS., attributed to the middle of the 14th c. Before 1500, dȳ, dȳs seem to have completely passed from the ē into the ī class, the fortunes of which they have since shared. As in pence, the plural s retains its original breath sound, probably because these words were not felt as ordinary plurals, but as collective words; cf. the orig. plural truce, where the collective sense has now passed into a singular. This pronunciation is indicated in later spelling by -ce: cf. the umlaut plurals lice, mice, the inflexional forms hence, once, twice, since, and the words ice, nice, advice, device, defence, in all which -ce represents a phonetic and original -s. In the newer senses where the plural is not collective, a form (daɪz) of the ordinary type has arisen; cf. the non-collective later plural pennies.]
I. With plural dice. (The form dice (used as pl. and sing.) is of much more frequent occurrence in gaming and related senses than the singular die.)
1. a. A small cube of ivory, bone, or other material, having its faces marked with spots numbering from one to six, used in games of chance by being thrown from a box or the hand, the chance being decided by the number on the face of the die that turns uppermost. Also, a cube bearing other devices on its faces, or a solid with more or less than six faces (see quots.). b. pl. The game played with these; esp. in phr. at (the) dice.
(α) sing. dee, dye, dy, die.
| 1393 Gower Conf. II. 209 The chaunce is cast upon a dee, But yet full oft a man may see [etc.]. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. cv. (1869) 56 Nouht so gret as a as in a dee. 1570 Levins Manip. 96/41 A dye, alea. 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet (1844) 23 Hee'le cogge the die. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. ii. i, You shall no more deale with the hollow die, Or the fraile card. 1656 Stanley Hist. Philos. viii. 85 So to cast the dy that it may chance right. 1680 Cotton Gamester in Singer Hist. Cards 336 He puts one dye into the box. 1705 S. Centlivre Gamester i. i, To teach you the management of the die. 1779–81 Johnson L.P., Butler Wks. II. 191 To throw a dye, or play at cards. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. II. vii. 156 Dependent on the turn of a die, on the tossing up of a halfpenny. 1838 De Morgan Ess. Probab. 74 The real probability that 6000 throws with a die shall give exactly 1000 aces. 1872 F. Hall Exempl. False Philol. 68 The cast of a die is absolutely impossible of prediction. |
(
β)
pl. des,
dees,
deys,
dys,
dyse,
dyce,
dise,
dice.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 11392 Somme pleide wyþ des and tables. 1340 Ayenb. 45 Þe gemenes of des, and of tables. 13.. K. Alis. (MS. Laud Misc. 622) 3297 Þe rybaude pleieþ at þe dys [ed. Weber, deys] Swiþe selde þe fole is wys. c 1386 Chaucer Pard. T. 5 They daunce and pleyen at dees [so Harl., Heng.; Camb. deis, Petw. dys, Corp. dyse, Lansd. dise] bothe day and nyght. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 75 Pleyenge wiþ dees of gold. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1622 (MS. a 1500) The draghtes, the dyse, and oþer dregh gaumes. 1474 Caxton Chesse 127 In his lift hand thre dyse. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 109 His maistre pleyed gladly atte dise. 1479 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 422 The towne clerke to fynde theym Dice. 1481–90 Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 327 For a bale of dysse. 1484 Caxton Fables of Avian (1889) 21 Whiche doo no thynge but playe with dees and cardes. 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 2 §5 The Tenys, Closshe, Dise, Cardes, Bowles. 1536 R. Beerley in Four C. Eng. Lett. 35 Sume at cardes and sume at dyyss. 1556 Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 73 Wych playd wyth kynge Henry the viiite at dysse. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 340 In casting a paire of dyce. 1580 Baret Alv. D 656 The life of a man is like a game at the dice. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Rom. Quest. (1892) 57 Playing at dice with cokall bones. 1697 Dryden æneid ix. 452 From Dice and Wine the Youth retir'd to Rest. 1784 R. Bage Barham Downs II. 54 Lord Winterbottom is ruined by the dice. 1821 Byron Mar. Fal. iv. ii, They Have won with false dice. 1871 T. Taylor Jeanne Darc iii. i, Rough soldiers left their oaths, and dice, and lewdness. 1874 Macomb (Ill.) Eagle 23 Nov. 1/5 ‘Now, gentlemen,’ said she, ‘we will throw poker dice.’ 1910 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 176/2 Eight-sided dice have comparatively lately been introduced in France as aids to children in learning the multiplication table. 1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 32 Crown and Anchor is played by means of dice marked with crowns, anchors, hearts, etc. and a board similarly marked. 1960 R. C. Bell Board & Table Games v. 125 Games with two-sided dice. Ibid. 141 Three special dice are used marked with a crown, an anchor, a heart, a spade, a diamond, and a club. |
(
γ) singular
dice, plural
dices:
cf. obs. F.
sing. dez.
| 1388 Act 12 Rich. II, c. 6 §1 Les..jeues appellez coytes dyces, gettre de pere. c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 666 Hic talus, dyse. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 121/1 Dycyn, or pley wythe dycys, aleo. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 228 in Babees Bk. 306 Ne at the dyces with him to play. 1474 Caxton Chesse 132 He caste thre dyse and on eche dyse was a sise. 1483 Cath. Angl. 99/1 A Dice, taxillus, alea. 1552 Huloet, Dice or die, alea, talus, thessera. 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles iii. 100 Amongst the Grecians κυβεια signifies a Dice..the cast of a Dice was most casual and incertain. 1751 Mrs. E. Heywood Hist. Betsy Thoughtless IV. 202 Protesting never to touch a card or throw a dice again. |
2. a. In figurative and allusive use; thus sometimes
= Hazard, chance, luck.
| 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V 56 b, When kyng Henry perceived that the dice ranne not to his purpose, he abstained from the assaulte. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 36 His harder fortune was to fall Under my speare; such is the dye of warre. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, v. iv. 10, I haue set my life vpon a cast, And I will stand the hazard of the Dye. 1676 D'Urfey Mad. Fickle iv. i, The uncertain Dice of Fate thus far runs well. 1693 Dennis Imp. Crit. ii. 8 If that was his design, the Author has turn'd the Dice upon him, I gad. 1742 Young Nt. Th. vi. 37 When..th' important dye Of life and death spun doubtful, ere it fell, And turn'd up life. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby vi. vi, The immensity of the stake which he was hazarding on a most uncertain die. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 169 France and Austria were both playing with cogged dice. |
b. Phrases.
† (
a)
to make dice of (a person's) bones: see
quot. 1646.
† (
b)
to set (put) the dice upon (any one): see
quot. 1598. (
c)
the die is cast: the decisive step is taken; the course of action is irrevocably decided. (
d)
upon a or the die: depending upon a chance or contingency, in a critical position, at stake; so
to set upon the die. (
e)
in the dice: liable to turn up, as a contingent possibility (
cf. on the cards,
card n.2 2 e). (
f) In comparisons:
as smooth, true, straight as a die. (
g)
Colloq. phr. no dice: (it is or was) useless, hopeless, unsuccessful, profitless, etc.; nothing; ‘nothing doing’ (
orig. U.S.).
| a. 1591 R. Turnbull Exp. St. James 103 They wil make dice of their bones, but they will haue the extremitie of them. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. i. iii. iii. (1676) 268/1 We will not relent..till we have confounded him and his, made dice of his bones, as they say, see him rot in prison. 1646 J. Cooke Vind. Law 22 We say proverbially ‘make dice of his bones’, the meaning whereof is, that if a prisoner die in execution, after the Crowner has viewed his body, the creditor hath dice delivered him at the Crowne Office as having all that he is likely to have. |
| b. 1598 Florio, Stancheggiare..to set the dice vpon one, to tyrannize ouer one. 1658 Whole Duty Man xii. §6. 94 Thou..takest this opportunity to set the dice upon him. 1699 Bentley Phal. Introd. 2 He will put the Dice upon his Readers, as often as he can. |
| c. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. A iij b, Is the die cast, must At this one throw all thou hast gaind be lost? 1720 Ozell Vertot's Rom. Rep. II. xiii. 287 Cæsar..throws himself into the River..saying..It is done: The Die is thrown. 1879 G. Meredith Egoist xxvii. (1889) 262 The die is cast—I cannot go back. |
| d. 1659 D. Pell Impr. Sea 230 To recover her young when they are upon a dye. Ibid. 393 Ah poor soul..It will not now bee granted thee, when thou art upon thy dye. 1821 Byron Sardan. ii. i. 139 But here is more upon the die—a kingdom. 1832 Southey Hist. Penins. War III. 859 When Rochejaquelein.. set life and fortune thus upon the die. |
| e. 1858 De Quincey Greece under Rom. Wks. VIII. 317 It is hardly ‘in the dice’ that any downright novelty of fact should remain in reversion for this nineteenth century. |
| f. 1530 Palsgr. 629 Make this borde as smothe as a dyce, comme vng dez. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 256 Goodly fields..as plaine and smoothe as any die. c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 151 Y⊇ tide was out all upon the sands at Least a mile, wch was as smooth as a Die. a 1732 Gay Songs & Ball., New Song on New Similies, You'll know me truer than a die. 1877 Spry Cruise Challenger xiii. (ed. 7) 226 Arums climbing fifty feet up large trees as straight as a die. |
| g. 1931 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls (1932) 136 He is a guy I consider no dice. a 1939 R. Chandler Trouble is my Business (1950) 62 The old man's had a stroke... No dice there. Ibid. 222 No dice, sister. I'm putting the pressure on. 1943 P. Cheyney You can always Duck iv. 67 ‘She can come back here and go on driving a car.’ ‘No, sir,’ I tell him. ‘No dice. That dame has started bein' Mrs. Cara Travis an' she's goin' on bein' Mrs. Travis.’ 1952 Wodehouse Barmy in Wonderland viii. 81, I was around at her bank this morning trying to find out what her balance was, but no dice. Fanny won't part. 1959 ‘H. Howard’ Deadline iv. 47 She was on her way back to report that it was no dice. 1959 M. Pugh Chancer 10 Nothing doing. I'm not going. No dice. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 10 July 1/4 ‘It's no dice as far as I'm concerned,’ said one picket who made a derisive gesture. |
3. a. A small cubical segment formed by cutting anything down.
† Also, a small cubical bullet (
cf. die-shot).
| ? c 1390 Form of Cury in Warner Antiq. Culin. 6 Take the noumbles of a calf, swyne, or of shepe, parboile hem, and skerne [? kerue] hem to dyce. 1496 Ld. Treas. Acc. Scotl. I. 295 For cutting of viijxx and ix dis of irne to the pellokis. 1549 Privy Council Acts (1890) II. 350 Dyce of yron. ijm{supl}; shott of stone, v{supc}. a 1628 F. Greville Sidney (1652) 139 Wounded..with a square die out of a field-piece. 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. House-kpr. (1778) 141 Dish them up..with turnips and carrots cut in dice. 1889 B. Whitby Awakening M. Fenwick II. 166 She hacked her buttered toast into dice. |
γ with
dice in singular.
| 14.. Anc. Cookery in Househ. Ord. (1790) 466 Take fresshe braune of a bore sothen, and cut hit in grete dices. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 38 Square as dises þou shalt hit make. 1557 Recorde Whetst. R ij, I haue a dice of Brasse of .64. vnces of Troye weighte. |
† b. With negative:
never a dyse = not a bit, not in the least.
Obs.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 808 Þai..shall..neuer dere hym a dyse. |
II. with plural
dies.
4. a. A cubical block; in
Arch. a cubical or square block of stone forming part of a building;
spec. the cubical portion of a pedestal, between the base and cornice;
= dado 1.
† b. A square tablet.
| 1664 Evelyn tr. Freart's Archit. 123 The Italians call it the Zoccolo, Pillow or Die (because of its Cubique and solid figure). 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 13/1 A kind of little Wall, which we shall call the Plinth, others perhaps may call it the Dye. 1730 A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 240 Some Plinths, or rather Dyes, seen upon the second Cornish. Ibid. 265 Marble, cut thin in small square Dyes. a 1748 Watts (J.), Young creatures have learned spelling of words by having them pasted upon little flat tablets or dies. 1832 Gell Pompeiana I. vi. 109 The figures stand..upon little square plinths or dies. 1854 E. de Warren tr. De Saulcy's Dead Sea II. 224 The coping..is composed, first, of a cube, or die, measuring nearly six yards on each side. |
5. An engraved stamp used for impressing a design or figure upon some softer material, as in coining money, striking a medal, embossing paper, etc.
Often used in pairs, which may be dissimilar, for impressing unlike designs on opposite sides of the thing stamped (as in coining), or corresponding, one in relief and one countersunk (as in an embossing stamp).
| 1699 in M. Smith Mem. Secret Service App. 19 To bring or send to him some Deys..to coin some Mill'd Money. c 1724 Swift Consid. Wood's Coinage Wks. 1761 III. 164 There have been such variety of dyes made use of by Mr. Wood in stamping his money. 1787 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 123 The workman..brought me..the medal in gold, twenty-three in copper, and the dye. 1862 T. Morrall Needle-making 16 Making sail and packing needles..by means of dies fixed in a stamp, after the manner of making buttons. 1879 H. Phillips Addit. Notes Coins 1 The portrait is reduced..to the size it is to occupy on the die. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 263/1 The die..is a block of steel welded in a larger block of iron, the impression of the intended work cut in its face. |
6. The name of various mechancial appliances:
spec. a. One of two or more pieces (fitted in a
stock) to form a segment of a hollow screw for cutting the thread of a screw or bolt.
b. The bed-piece serving as a support for metal from which a piece is to be punched, and having an opening through which the piece is driven.
c. Forging. A device consisting of two parts which act together to give to the piece swaged between them the desired form.
d. Brick-making. A mouth-piece or opening through which the clay is forced, serving to mould it into the required form.
e. A part of the apparatus used in crushing ore: see
quot. 1881.
f. Shoemaking, etc. A shaped knife for cutting out blanks of any required shape and size:
cf. die v.
2| 1812–6 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 39 The best outside screws are..cut with what are called stocks or dies. 1833 Holland Manuf. Metal II. 197 The interstices are then filled by the insertion of the hardened steel dies. 1856 Farmer's Mag. Nov. 406 (Brick-making) The mouthpiece or die is about half-an-inch deeper and half an inch broader than the stream of clay after it passes through the moulding rollers to the cutting apparatus. a 1875 Chamberlain in Ure Dict. Arts I. 529 As soon as it has..forced the clay of one box through the die..the plunger returns and empties [the other] box of clay through a die on the opposite side. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Die, a piece of hard iron, placed in a mortar to receive the blow of a stamp, or in a pan to receive the friction of the muller. Between the die and the stamp or muller the ore is crushed. 1885 Harper's Mag. LXX. 282 By means of ‘dies’, or sole-shaped knives, in a die-machine, required shapes, sizes, and widths are cut out. Before the use of dies, soles were ‘rounded out’ by hand..Steam-power and revolving die-block [were] applied in 1857. |
7. Sc. ‘A toy, a gewgaw’ (Jamieson).
(Also in nursery language
die-die. Identity with this word is doubtful.)
| 1808 Jamieson, Die, a toy, a gewgaw, Loth. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxi, ‘The bits o' weans wad up..and toddle to the door, to pu' in the auld Blue-Gown that mends a' their bonny dies.’ 1816 ― Old Mort. x, ‘Ye hae seen the last o' me, and o' this bonny die too’, said Jenny, holding between her finger and thumb a splendid silver dollar. |
III. 8. attrib. and
Comb. a. die-like,
die-shaped adjs.;
die-block,
die-machine (see 6 f);
† die-bone, the cuboid bone of the tarsus;
† die-shot, shot of cubical form, dice-shot;
die-sinker, an engraver of dies for stamping (see 5); so
die-sinking;
die-stake: see
quot. 1874;
die-stock, the stock or handle for holding the dies used in cutting screws (see 6 a);
die-wise a. and adv., in the manner of a die, in a cubical form.
| 1634 T. Johnson Parey's Chirurg. 234 It is knit by Synarthrosis to the *Die-bone. |
| 1875 Ure Dict. Arts II. 29 This must..be left to the experience of the *die-forger. |
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 378/1 A..*Die-like figure four square every way; a square solid. |
| 1875 Ure Dict. Arts II. 29 The very cross-grained, or highly crystalline steel..acquires fissures under the *die-press. |
| 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 148 A huge *die-shaped mass of stone. |
| 1581 Styward Mart. Discipl. ii. 143 Such as haue *die shot..contrarie to the Cannons & lawes of the field. |
| 1815 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 317/2 Employed by..*dye sinkers and ornamental engravers. 1893 Daily News 3 July 2/7 Medallists and die-sinkers have been very busy..in view of the Royal wedding. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 592 s.v. Coining-press, The lower die is on what is termed the *die-stake, and gives the reverse impression. |
| 1863 Smiles Indust. Biogr. 238 He..seems to have directed his attention to screw-making..and [made] a pair of very satisfactory *die-stocks. |
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 128 In *die wise or cubically. 1702 Thoresby in Phil. Trans. XXV. 1864 The heads not Die-wise, as the large Nails now are, but perfectly flat. |
b. Combs. with the
pl. form
dice, as
dice-cogging,
dice-gospeller,
dice-maker;
dice-board, a board upon which dice are thrown;
dice-coal (see
quot.);
dice-headed a., having a cubical boss or stud (of nails used for strengthening doors, etc.);
dice holes (see
quot.);
dice-man, a sharper who cheats with dice;
dice-shot = die-shot (see
die);
dice-top, a top of polygonal form with numbers marked on its faces, a teetotum. Also
dice-box, -play, etc.
| 1844 Thirlwall Greece VIII. 453 Mummius..had as little eye for them as any of his men, who made *dice-boards of the finest master-pieces of painting. |
| 1842 Brande, *Dice-coal, a species of coal easily splitting into cubical fragments. |
| 1852 Thackeray Esmond i. xiii, I played a *dice-cogging scoundrel in Alsatia for his ears. |
| 1550 Latimer Serm. at Stamford Wks. I. 269 Among so great a number of gospellers, some are card-gospellers, some are *dice-gospellers, some are pot-gospellers; all are not good. |
| 1497 Ld. Treas. Acc. Scot. I. 357 V{supc} ȝet nalis *dis hedit to Dunbar. 1593 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 74, 100 dicheaded nailes pro ostio. |
| 1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 153 *Dice Holes..a stitch..used in Honiton..lace. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 213/2 *Dice maker, dessier. 1714 Mandeville Fab. Bees (1725) I. 81 Card and dice-makers..are the immediate ministers to a legion of vices. |
| 1871 Echo 14 Mar., *Dice-men and thimble-rigs were scattered here and there, making a fine harvest. |
| 1588 Lucar Colloq. Arte Shooting App. 57 Chaine shot..*dice shot. 1668 J. White Rich Cab. (ed. 4) 124 Square pieces of iron, called dice-shot. |
| 1894 Maskelyne Sharps & Flats 257 That well-known device, the ‘*dice-top’ or ‘teetotum’. |
▪ II. die, n.2 slang. [f. die v.1] Only in
phr. to make a die (of it) = to die.
| 1611 Cotgr., Fouïr aux taupes, to turne vp the heeles; goe feed wormes, make a dy. Ibid., Tirer les chausses, to kicke vp the heeles; to make a dye. 1819 Metropolis I. 58 I thought he was going to make a die of it! Why, he's as old as the Hills. 1883 Century Mag. XXVI. 238/2, ‘I believe you're trying to make a die of it’, said the doctor. |
▪ III. die, v.1 (
daɪ)
Pa. tense and
pple. died (
daɪd);
pres. pple. dying (
ˈdaɪɪŋ). Forms α. 2–4
deȝ-en,
dei-e(n, 3
deiȝ-en,
deaiȝ-e, 4
day-e, 4–5
deghe, 4–6
dei(e,
dey(e, (5
deyn), 4–6 (
north.)
de, 4–
dee. β. 4–5
diȝ-en,
dyȝ-en,
digh-e,
dygh-e,
dy-en,
di-en, 4–7
diy, (5
dyi), 4–8
dye, 4–
die.
pa. tense α. 3
deiȝede,
dæide,
deaide, 3–5
deid(e, 4
daide,
dayed,
deȝed,
deied(e;
north. deyt,
ded, 4–5
deyd(e,
deyed, 5
deghit,
-et,
-t, 5–
north. deed,
deit,
deet. β. 4
dyede, 4–5
dyde, 4–6
dide, (5
dyet), 4–8
dyed, 4–
died.
[Early ME. dēȝen, dēghen, corresp. to ON. deyja (orig. d{obar}yja, OSw. and ODa. döia, Da. döe, Sw. dö), OFris. deia, deja, OS. dóian, OHG. touwan, MHG. töuwen; these represent an OTeut. strong verb of the 6th ablaut class *daw-j-an, pa. tense dôw, pa. pple. dawan-, the strong inflexions being retained in ON. (dó-:—*dów, dáinn:—*dawans). In the other langs. and in Eng. a regular weak verb. No instance of the word is known in OE. literature (its sense being expressed by steorfan, sweltan, or the periphrastic wesan déad, pa. tense wæs déad: see dead 1 d) hence it is generally held to have been early lost in OE. (as in Gothic, and as subsequently in all the continental WGer. langs.), and re-adopted in late OE. or early ME. from Norse; but some think that the facts point rather to the preservation of an OE. d{iacu}eᵹan, déᵹan, in some dialect; the word appears to have been in general use from the 12th c., even in the s.w. dialects (see Napier in Hist. Holy Rood, E.E.T.S., 1894). The ME. dēȝen, dēghen came regularly down to 1500 as deye, which was retained in the North as dey, dē, dee (still current from Lancashire to Scotland); but in standard English dēghe was in 14th c. (in conformity with the common phonetic history of OE. eh, eah, eoh, as in dye, eye, fly, high, lie, nigh, thigh, etc.) narrowed to diȝe, dighe, whence the later dye, die. The oldest text of Cursor M. (Cotton) has only
dey; in the later texts this is frequently altered to
dighe,
dye, when not in rime, in the late Trinity
MS. sometimes even in rime, with change of text. Chaucer used both
dey and
dye, the C.T. (Ellesm.
MS.) contains in the rimes 22 examples of
deye and 50 of
dye. Both forms are also used in the Wyclifite version, and both occur in Caxton's works.
The stem
dau- appears also in Gothic in the
ppl. a.
dauþs,
OE. déad (:—
daud-oz)
dead, and the
n. dauþus,
OE. déaþ,
death n.; also in
afdôjan (:—
afdôwjan),
pa. pple. afdauid- (:—
afdôwid-) vexed, worried. (The relationship of Gothic
diwanô,
undiwanei, etc. is uncertain.) The simple verb has shown a notable tendency to die out, and leave its place to be taken by derivatives: thus in Gothic
dauþnan to die.]
I. Of man and sentient beings.
*
literally.
1. a. intr. To lose life, cease to live, suffer death; to expire.
The proper word for this, and more especially for the cessation of life by disease or natural decay (to which it is often restricted dialectally), but also used of all modes of death, as ‘to die in battle’, ‘at the stake’, ‘at the hands of justice’.
(
α) Forms
deȝ-e(n,
dey-e(n,
deiȝ-e(n,
dei-e(n,
day,
de,
dee. (After 1500,
north. Eng. and
Sc.)
| c 1135 Holy Rood (1894) 14 Forþan ðe ic nu deȝen sceal. c 1205 Lay. 28893 Þe alde king deȝede. Ibid. 31796 Al folc gon to deȝen. a 1225 Ancr. R. 108 Me schal er deien. Ibid. 110 He þolede sundri pine, & deiȝede. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 62/311 Heo deide þane þridde day. a 1300 Cursor M. 24139 (Edin.) Latte vs deien samin [Cott. dei, Fairf. deye]. 13.. Ibid. 16762 + 119 (Cott.) Him was not geue..plas, War-on he miȝt dee fayre..but deed heȝe in þe air. 13.. Ibid. 11323 (Gött.) Þat heo dede suld neuer dei, Til he suld se crist self wit ei [Trin. MS. deȝe, eȝe]. 13.. Sir Beues 3135 Þat emperur neȝ daide, His wif confortede him & saide. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 430 Hys fadyr..deyt tharfor in my presoun. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 5738 Ech man schal rysen on such aray As he dayeþ ynne. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 296 Crist deyede to destrie þis heresye & alle his martyrs aftir deyeden. 1382 ― Rom. xiv. 8 Where we deien, we deien to the Lord. c 1386 Chaucer Prioress' T. 82 And eek hire for to preye To been oure help and socour when we deye. c 1400 Destr. Troy 921 All dropet the dule as he degh wold. Ibid. 9551 The buerne deghet. a 1420 Sir Amadace (Camden) lxxii, Thenne sone aftur the kinge deet. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 117 Deyyn, morior. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 40 It gars me quake for ferd to dee. c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 127 Than wist he nocht of no help, bot to de. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 142/2 Hys fader and moder deyden. c 1489 ― Sonnes of Aymon iii. 79 Noble knyghtes deyeng full myserably vpon the erthe. a 1500 Nutbrown Maid xxiv. in Arnolde's Chron. (1811) 202, I [shal] dey sone after ye be gone. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 6114 Neuer to de agane. a 1605 Montgomerie Sonn. lix. 5 To see Sa many lovers, but redemption, dee. a 1800 W. Douglas Song, For bonnie Annie Lawrie, I'd lay me down and dee. 1861 E. Waugh Birtle Carter's Tale 11 Yo desarven a comfortable sattlement i'th top shop when yo dee'n. |
(
β) Forms
diȝ-e(n,
dy-e(n,
di-e(n,
dye,
dy,
die.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 14306 He was so wounded, he most dye. 13.. Cursor M. 7959–60 (Gött.) For þu sal witt þat i sal noght lye Þe son of barsabe he sal die [Cott. lei, dei, Fairf. legh, degh, Trin. lyȝe, diȝe]. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 630 Felice said to Gij, þou dost folie Þatow wilt for mi loue dye. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 306 Þaȝ fortune dyd your flesch to dyȝe. 13.. Song of Yesterday 87 in E.E.P. (1862) 135 A mon þat nou parteþ and dis [rime wys]. 1382 Wyclif Rev. xiv. 13 Blessid the deede men, that dien in the Lord. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 627 And for the smert he wende for to dye, As he were wood for wo he gan to crye. a 1400–50 Alexander 1260 (Ashm. MS.) To do as driȝten wald deme & dyi [MS. D. dye] all togedire. 1477 Sir J. Paston in Paston Lett. No. 806 III. 207 Yf I dyghe ny the Cyte of London. 1483 Cath. Angl. 99 To Die, mori. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxv. 485 To dye in prison. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1567) 19 b, Undoubtedly, the lawier neuer dieth a begger. 1556 Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 3 Thys yere this kynge Henry the thirde dyde. 1633 Earl of Manchester Al Mondo (1636) 142 He that will live when he dyes, must dye while hee lives. 1635 A. Stafford Fem. Glory (1869) 147 Her armes express the Crosse whereon He dide. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xix. 99 Not onely Monarchs, but also whole Assemblies dy. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 544 In the day thou eat'st, thou di'st. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth (1723) 28 The Shell-fish..live and dye there. 1712 Pope Spect. No. 48 ¶6 Little Spirits that are born and die with us. 1727–38 Gay Fables i. xxvii. 50 So groaned and dy'd. 1728 Newton Chronol. Amended 37 Some of these Archons might dye before the end of the ten years. 1769 Johnson in Boswell Life (1847) 211 It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. 1807 Wordsw. White Doe vii. 315 At length, thus faintly, faintly tied To earth, she was set free, and died. 1847 Tennyson Princ. vi Song 4 She must weep or she will die. |
b. Const. To die
of a malady, hunger, old age, or the like;
by violence, the sword, his own hand;
from a wound, inattention, etc.;
through neglect;
on or
upon the cross, the scaffold,
at the stake,
in battle;
for a cause, object, reason, or purpose,
for the sake of one; formerly also
with a disease, the sword, etc.;
on his enemies (
i.e. falling dead above them). In earlier use the prepositions were employed less strictly.
| c 1200 Ormin 8656 Siþþenn shule witt anan Off hunngerr deȝenn baþe. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 850 Of his burþe his moder deide. c 1340 Cursor M. App. ii. 887 (B.M. Add. MS.) No womman..dien ne schal of hure childe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 6528 All þat met hym..dyet of his dynttes. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour D v, Yf they ete of that fruyte they shold deye of it. 1580 Baret Alv. D 643 To die of the plague. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 130 She being mortall, of that boy did die. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV Epil. 31 Falstaffe shall dye of a Sweat. 1658–9 E. Bodvile in Hatton Corr. (1878) 17 Like to diy of the small pox. 1716 Addison Drummer v. i, The wound of which he dy'd. 1796 Burns Lett. Mr. Cunningham 7 July, If I die not of disease, I must perish with hunger. 1892 Du Maurier Peter Ibbetson 247 I thought I must die of sheer grief. |
| 1382 Wyclif Ezek. v. 12 The thridde part of thee shal die bi pestilence. a 1631 Donne Poems (1650) 10 We can dye by it, if not live by love. 1643 Denham Cooper's H. 315 Disdains to dye By common hands. 1683 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. I. 95 A Calfe that Dyed, as they thought by Witch⁓craft. |
| c 1340 Cursor M. 26847 (Fairf.) Oft man deys þorou [Cott. of] an wounde. 1382 Wyclif Num. xvi. 29 If thurȝ vsid deeth of men thei dien. Ibid. xxiii. 10 Dye my soule thurȝ the deeth of riȝtwise men. Mod. If the child had died through neglect. |
| 13.. Cursor M. 17153 (Cott.), I haf..ded on þis rode tre. Ibid. 9039 (Gött.) God þat dide apon þe rode. c 1400 Destr. Troy 427 Whan Criste on the crosse for our care deghit. 1675 Brooks Gold. Key Wks. 1867 V. 90 He that died on the cross was long a-dying. 1820 T. Kelly Hymn, We sing the praise..Of him who died upon the cross. |
| a 1300 Cursor M. 16762 + 89 (Cott.) When þou deed for drede. c 1300 Havelok 840, I wene that we deye mone For hunger. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 8 Redy to dye for cristin mennus soulis. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn vii. 27 heading, The whiche deyde for sorowe. 1552 Huloet, Dye for the loue of a womanne, Perire feminam. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 177, I can not chappe these textes in Scripture, if I should die for it. 1580 Baret Alv. D 643 Willing to die for ones safetie. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iii. (1586) 129, I should die for verie shame. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. ii. 73 Shortly after they all die for hunger and cold. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iv. i. 108 Men haue died from time to time, and wormes haue eaten them, but not for loue. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 121 Though he dye for it, he cannot think of it. 1655 H. Vaughan Silex Scint. i. Ded. (1858) 15 My God! thou that didst dye for me. 1713 Steele Guardian No. 17 ¶7 But child..can you see your mother die for hunger. 1832 Tennyson May Queen 21 They say he's dying all for love. Mod. To die for one's opinions. |
| 1382 Wyclif Jer. xvi. 4 With dethes of siknyngus thei shul die. c 1386 Chaucer Monk's T. 711 The place in which he schulde dye With boydekyns. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8273 Thow dowtles shall dye with dynt of my hond. a 1612 Donne βιαθανατος (1644) 52 Annibal..dyed with poyson which he alwaies carryed in a ring. a 1672 Wood Life (1848) 8 His grandmother Penelopie..died with grief. 1692 E. Walker Epictetus' Mor. xvi, To dye with Thirst and Hunger. |
| 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 114 Ile die on him that saies so but your selfe. 1712–14 Pope Rape Lock v. 78 Nor fear'd the Chief th' unequal fight to try, Who sought no more than on his foe to die. |
c. To die
in a state or condition.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 25850 (Cott.) Qua þat dees in dedli sin sal duell in bale. 1382 Wyclif Jer. xxxi. 30 Eche in his wickednesse shal die. 1549 Compl. Scot. iii. 25 Cleopatra vas lyike to dee in melancolie. 1552 Huloet, Dye in great debte, Relinquere debitum. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) Lett. ii. 3 To dye in the Romish Communion. 1784 Cowper Tiroc. 150 Would die at last in comfort, peace, and joy. Mod. He died in poverty and neglect. |
d. To die
poor,
a beggar,
a martyr,
a millionaire, etc.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 108 Heo ouh for to deien martir in hire meseise. 1393 Gower Conf. II. 55 Lo, thus she deiede a wofull maide. 1553 [see 1 β.]. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 422 But so dy'd Impenitent. 1683 Salmon Doron Med. i. 17 They dye (as it were) laughing. 1781 Cowper Retirement 14 Having lived a trifler, died a man. 1842 Tennyson Vision of Sin iv. 144 Yet we will not die forlorn. 1883 Century Mag. XXV. 765/1 Her old friend had died a bankrupt. 1894 Wolseley Marlborough I. 246 He was every inch a sailor, and died an Admiral. |
e. to die on (someone): (
a) to die in the presence of or while in the charge or care of (someone); (
b) to cease to function for or be of use to (someone); to cease to interest.
| 1907 J. M. Synge Aran Islands i. 47 A farmer was in great distress as his crops had failed, and his cow had died on him. 1930 Kipling Limits & Renewals (1932) 243, I decided to drive in on a gust under the spitfire-sprit—and, if she answered her helm before she died on us, to humour her a shade to starboard. 1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 10 Dec. 1002/4 Carruthers drank all New York could give him for thirty-six hours and..the ‘drink died on him’. Well, sometimes the novel dies on Mr. Waugh. That happened this time. 1934 A. Thirkell Wild Strawberries iii. 53 Let Weston know that the horn died on us this morning, so he'd better fix it up. 1936 J. Tickell See how they Run iv. 44 ‘I want to look after her while she's in England.’ ‘Suppose she died on you?’ 1936 C. Day Lewis Friendly Tree vi. 80 That was one thing which had not died on her—the love of birds. |
2. to die a (specified) death: to die by or suffer a particular death.
Death prob. represents the
OE. déaþe instrumental, in
déaþe sweltan, L.
morte mori: it was in
ME. also preceded by various prepositions,
on,
in,
a,
o,
of,
by,
with; but is now generally treated as a cognate object. In
die a death,
a was
prob. originally the preposition
= on,
o (see
quots. c 1200,
c 1386) but came to be treated as the indefinite article.
a. with instrumental case, or equivalent preposition.
| [c 900 ælfred's Laws 14. 15 in Thorpe I. 48 (Bosw.) He sceal deaþe sweltan. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 221 Þu scealt deaðe sweltan. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 181 Þu shalt a deðe swelte.] 13.. Cursor M. 660 (Cott.) O [Fairf. Wit, Gött. Of, Trin. On] duble ded þan sal ȝee dei. 1382 Wyclif Gen. ii. 17 In what euer day sotheli thow etist there of, with deth thow shalt die [1388 Thou schalt die by deeth [Vulg. morte morieris]]. 1382 ― Judg. xiii. 22 Bi deeth die we [Vulg. morte moriemur], for we han seen the Lord. 1382 ― Ezek. xxviii. 10 In deeth of vncircumcydid men, thou shalt die. c 1386 Chaucer Melib. ¶606 Bettre it is to dye of [so 5 MSS.; Harl. on, Petw. a] bitter deeth. c 1450 Merlin 52, I knowe not what deth this fole shall on dye. c 1477 Caxton Jason 42 If I dye not of bodily deth I shal dye of spirituel deth. 1483 ― G. de la Tour G v, Your sone deyd this nyght of a good dethe. c 1500 Melusine 247 To deye of an euyl deth. 1625–6 Purchas Pilgrims II. 1041 He died of his naturall death. |
b. without preposition.
| 13.. Sir Beues 341, I ne reche, what deþ he diᵹe, Siþþe he be cold. 13.. Cursor M. 952 (Gött.) And siþen dobil dede to dei [Cott., Fairf. wit, Trin. on doubel deþ]. Ibid. 10917 (Gött.) He þat first na dede miht die [Cott. na ded moght drei]. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 6 Thou shalle dye a dulfulle dede. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxxv. 453 He wolde cause the emperour to dye an yll dethe. 1535 Coverdale Num. xxiii. 10 My soule die y⊇ death of y⊇ righteous, and my ende be as the ende of these. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 158 He shall dye a Fleas death. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. ix. xlv. (1612) 212 But twentie two a naturall death did die. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. i. 72, I would faine dye a dry death. 1611 Bible John xviii. 32 Signifying what death he should die. 1687 Settle Refl. Dryden 85 I'le die a thousand deaths before I'le do so or so. 1832 Tennyson Miller's Dau. xii, Love dispell'd the fear That I should die an early death. |
c. to die the death: to suffer death, to be put to death.
Dr. Johnson (
Shaks. (1765) I. 311) says ‘{oqq}die the death{cqq} seems to be a solemn phrase for death inflicted by law.’
| 1535 Coverdale Judg. xiii. 22 We must dye the death, because we haue sene God [Wyclif Bi deeth die we]. 1581 Lambarde Eiren. ii. vii. (1588) 269 If one do burne a dwelling house maliciously, he shall die the death for it. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. i. 65 Either to dye the death, or to abiure For euer the society of men. 1611 ― Cymb. iv. ii. 97 Dye the death: When I haue slaine thee with my proper hand, Ile follow those that euen now fled hence. 1801 Southey Thalaba ix. xxxix, And in that wild and desperate agony Sure Maimuna had died the utter death. 1859 Tennyson Lancelot & Elaine 866 [He] had died the death In any knightly fashion for her sake. |
3. a. In various phrases, describing the manner or condition of death. (Sometimes
fig.:
cf. 10.)
to die game, to maintain a bold and defiant bearing to the last,
i.e. like a gamecock; whence by contrast
to die dung-hill;
to die hard,
i.e. with difficulty, reluctantly, not without a struggle;
to die in one's bed,
i.e. of illness or other natural cause, the opposite of which is
to die in one's shoes;
to die in one's boots or shoes or
die with one's boots on: to die a violent death,
spec. to be hanged; so
to die with one's boots off: to have a peaceful or unspectacular death or end;
to die in harness,
i.e. in full work;
to die in the last ditch,
i.e. in defending the last ditch of an entrenchment, to fight to the last extremity; and in other similar phrases.
| 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. lxxxiv. 107 We shall not forsake you to dye in the quarrell. Ibid. I. ccvi. 243 Tyll he had made an ende of his warr..or els to dye in the payne. 1631 Rutherford Lett. ii. ix. (1881) 384 It cannot stand with his honour to die in the burrows. 1663 Flagellum, or O. Cromwell Pref. (1672) 3 He had the fortune..to dye in his bed. 1694, etc. [see shoe n. 2 d]. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Die like a Dog, to be hang'd..Die on a Fish-day, or in his shoes, the same. Die like a Rat, to be poysoned. 1712 Hearne Collect. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) III. 341 He dy'd in his Shoes; his Domesticks say of an Apoplexie. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 457 There was a sure way never to see it lost, and that was to die in the last ditch. 1784 Gentl. Mag. LIV. i. 19/1 The only solicitude too many of them discover is, whether the criminals die hard, according to the Tyburn phrase. 1805 Ann. Reg. 370 Declaring, in cant terms, that they would ‘die game’. 1811 Syd. Smith Wks. (1867) I. 203 Nothing dies so hard..as intolerance. 1825 On Bull-baiting ii. (Houlston Tracts I. xxviii. 5), I don't intend to die dunghill. 1863 Fawcett Pol. Econ. ii. xi. (1876) 294 Reform is slow, and abuses die hard. 1867 Homeward Mail 16 Nov. 951/2 Mr. P. A. Dyke has died in harness at his post as Government agent. 1868 M. Pattison Academ. Org. v. 129 Learning in Oxford died hard and yielded up its breath not without many a struggle. 1870 Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. x. 15 Very few great persecutors have ever died in their beds. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xvii. 42 Men who..had actually died in arms against him. 1873 J. H. Beadle Undevel. West xxii. 435 It will be said in Western dialect. ‘They died in their Boots’. 1873 J. Miller Life amongst Modocs vi. 75 If you keep on slinging your six-shooter around loose..you will..die with your boots on. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. III. xxi. 544 Like most medieval workers they all died in harness. 1888 [see hard adv. 3]. 1895 W. Rye E. Angl. Gloss. 21 Died with his boots on, viz. died a violent death. 1903 Masefield Ballads 22 So I'm for drinking honestly, and dying in my boots. 1946 B. Sutton Jungle Pilot 99 An aircraft which ends its career by dying with its ‘boots off’ and being deliberately burnt to ashes on the ground is a sight at once undignified and pathetic. 1959 Listener 6 Aug. 200/1 They died with their boots on; they hardly ever surrendered. |
b. never say die: never consent or resign oneself to death; never give in.
| 1837 Dickens Pickw. ii, Never say die—down upon your luck. 1880 Payn Confid. Agent III. 161 Never say die while there's a shot in the locker. |
c. (I) hope (or wish) I may die,
(I) hope to die, etc.:
colloq. asseverations of the truth of what one says.
| 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. II. iii. xi. 100 ‘Wish I may die,’ cried Mr. Riderhood, with a hoarse laugh, ‘if I warn't a goin' to say the self-same words to you.’ 1899 R. Whiteing No. 5 John St. xxiv. 244, I see it in the piper. Wish I may die! 1912 Mulford & Clay Buck Peters xvii. 160 ‘There's a Witch's Ring right here on the range!’ ‘Nonsense!’ ‘Hope I may die! I'll show you, to-morrow.’ 1926 [see cross v. 3 b]. 1927 I. Gershwin Let's Kiss & Make Up 2, I didn't mean to start any scene to make you sigh. Hope to die! 1968 M. Allingham Cargo of Eagles xi. 133 ‘Off the record?’ ‘Never a word, may I die.’ |
4. To suffer the pains or dangers of death; to face death.
| 1382 Wyclif 1 Cor. xv. 31 Ech day I deie for ȝoure glorie, britheren. 1526–34 Tindale ibid., By oure reioysinge which I have in Christ Iesu oure Lorde, I dye dayly. 1633 [see 1 β]. |
**
transf. and
fig. 5. Theol. To suffer spiritual death; ‘To perish everlastingly’ (J.):
cf. death n. 5.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 8159 Þai salle ay deghand lyf, and lyfand dyghe, And ever-mare payns of ded þus dryghe. 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xviii. 4 The soule that shal synne, the ilk shal die. 1552 Bk. Com. Prayer Burial of Dead, And whosoever liveth, and believeth in him, shall not die eternally. 1627 Hakewill Apol. (1630) 512 So long as God shall liue, so long shall the damned die. |
6. to die unto: to cease to be under the power or influence of; to become dead unto:
cf. Rom. vi. 2.
| 1648 Westm. Assembly's Shorter Catech. Q. 35 Sanctification..whereby we..are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness. |
7. a. To suffer pains identified with those of death; (often hyperbolical) to languish, pine away with passion; to be consumed with longing desire;
to die for, to desire keenly or excessively.
| 1591 Lyly Endym. i. iv, The lady that he delights in, and dotes on every day, and dies for ten thousand times a day. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. 33 a, He saw him swallow downe a bitte that he dyde for. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iii. ii. 69 And in despight of all, dies for him. 1610 ― Temp. iii. i. 79 And much lesse take What I shall die to want. a 1631 Donne Poems (1650) 14 Deare, I die As often as from thee I goe. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 86 ¶2 Nothing is more common than for lovers to..languish, despair, and dye in dumb show. 1832 Tennyson Eleänore 141–8, I die with my delight..I would be dying evermore, So dying ever, Eleänore. Mod. colloq. I am dying for a drink. |
b. to be dying to do (something): to long greatly.
| 1709 Prior Celia to Damon 8 That durst not tell me, what I dy'd to hear. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 254 ¶3 She dies to see what demure and serious Airs Wedlock has given you. 1780 F. Burney Diary May, Mrs. Bowdler has long been dying to come to the point. 1786 Ibid. 17 July, Miss P—, who was..dying with impatience to know..everything about me. 1832 L. Hunt Sir R. Esher (1850) 83 The secret was dying to escape him. 1893 G. Allen Scallywag I. 20 The pretty American's dying to see you. |
c. Used hyperbolically to indicate extreme feelings of amusement, embarrassment, etc.;
esp. in
phr. to die with or
die of laughing.
| 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 243 Went they not quickly, I should die with laughing. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 176 At this sport Sir Valour dies; cries..giue me ribs of Steele, I shall split all In pleasure of my Spleene. 1778 F. Burney Diary 23 Aug., An account he gave us..would have made you die with laughing. 1796 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. vi. (1813) 194, I was ready to die of laughter. 1820 M. Wilmot Let. 12 Jan. (1935) 50 Once in a tender love speech, I thought I should have died, when Lady Grace..told him audibly he had turned over two leaves! a 1930 D. H. Lawrence Phoenix II (1968) 84 He looked like a positive saint: one of the noble sort, you know, that will suffer with head up and with dreamy eyes. I nearly died of laughing. 1949 D. Smith I capture Castle xi. 190 She knew some of the manaquins [sic] at a dress show—I could have died. 1969 Widdowson & Halpert in Halpert & Story Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland 162 He was dressed up, you know, and he was like an old shepherd. Well I nearly died. |
d. To experience a sexual orgasm. (Most common as a poetical metaphor in the late 16th and 17th
cent.)
| 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iii. ii. 70 Claudio. Nay, but I know who loues him..and in despight of all, dies for him. Prince. Shee shall be buried with her face vpwards. a 1631 Donne Elegies Songs & Sonnets (1965) 39 Once I lov'd and dyed; and am now become Mine Epitaph and Tombe. Here dead men speake their last, and so do I; Love-slaine, loe, here I lye. 1673 Dryden Marriage a-la-mode iv. ii, Now die, my Alexis, and I will die too. 1680 Rochester Poems 71 In love, 'tis equal measure. The Victor lives with empty pride, The Vanquisht dye with pleasure. 1714 Pope Rape of Lock v. 45 Nor fear'd the Chief th'unequal Fight to try, Who sought no more than on his Foe to die. 1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 20 That's how the fig dies..Like a prostitute, the bursten fig, making a show of her secret. That's how women die too. 1961 R. Amato in Landfall Sept. 200 You're nice, though. You make me die every time. 1974 J. Denver Annie's Song (sheet-music) 4 Come let me love you... Let me die in your arms. |
II. Of non-sentient objects, substances, qualities, actions.
8. a. Of plants, flowers, or organized matter: To lose vegetative life; to cease to be subject to vital forces; to pass into a state of mortification or decomposition.
| 1382 Wyclif 1 Cor. xv. 36 That thing that thou sowist, is not quykenyd, no but it deie first. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 642 Thai wol multiplie There as all other treen and herbes deye. 1513 Douglas æneis ix. vii. 149 Lyke as the purpour flour..Dwynis away, as it doith faid or de. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 85 Good quickset bie, Old gatherd will die. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 42 Her Vine..Vnpruned, dyes. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 477 The same part of his tail which is beneath the knot will die after such binding, and never have any sense in it again. 1707 Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 62 The Plant, grown dry and withered..must dy. c 1820 Shelley Autumn 2 The pale flowers are dying. 1855 Tennyson Maud vi. i. 6 The shining daffodils die. 1869 Huxley Phys. i. (ed. 3) 22 Individual cells of the epidermis and of the epithelium are incessantly dying and being cast off. |
b. Said of the heart: To cease to beat; to sink as in swooning.
| 1611 Bible 1 Sam. xxv. 37 His heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 26 June ¶18 My heart seemed to die within me. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc i. 290 It might be seen..by the deadly paleness which ensued, How her heart died within her. |
9. fig. Of substances: To lose force, strength, or active qualities, to become ‘dead’, flat, vapid, or inactive.
| 1612 Webster White Devil iv. i, Best wine, Dying, makes strongest vinegar. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 390 Plaster is said to die when it loses its strength. |
10. a. Of actions, institutions, states, or qualities: To come to an end, pass out of existence; to go out, as a candle or fire; to pass out of memory, to be utterly forgotten.
| a 1240 Lofsong in Cott. Hom. 211 Þine pinen buruwen me..from þene deað ðet neuer ne deieð. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 7 (Mätz.) Dedes þat wolde deie, storye kepeþ hem euermore. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 600 As cornes that wol under growe her eye, That but thou lete hem oute, the sight wol die. 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 240 In whose person died the very surname of Plantagenet. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 110 The coles that are made of the Pine tree..die not so fast as the other. 1580 Baret Alv. D 643 Loue vtterly dieth, or decaieth. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. vi. 1 Heere burnes my Candle out; I, heere it dies. 1599 ― Much Ado v. i. 301 So dies my reuenge. 1710 Prideaux Orig. Tithes v. 237 But he dying the same year he published them [Laws], they also dyed with him. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 26 ¶5 When I look upon the Tombs of the great, every Emotion of Envy dies in me. 1820 Shelley Ode Liberty ix. 13 Art, which cannot die. 1847 Tennyson Princ. iii. 189 Speak, and let the topic die. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 7 A fragile and secondary good which the world is very willing to let die. 1892 Du Maurier Peter Ibbetson 247 It is good that my secret must die with me. |
b. Sometimes more directly
fig. from 1.
| 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. xvi. (1611) 50 All these controuersies might have dyed, the very day they were first brought foorth. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. iii. 74 What euer Harry Percie then had said..May reasonably dye, and neuer rise To do him wrong. 1601 ― Twel. N. i. i. 3 The appetite may sicken, and so dye. 1610 ― Temp. ii. i. 216 Thou let'st thy fortune sleep: die rather. |
11. To pass gradually away (
esp. out of hearing or sight) by becoming fainter and fainter; to fade away.
| [1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 58 b, The fault of some, who suffer the last letters to die betweene their teeth.] 1704 Pope Windsor For. 266, I hear sweet music die along the grove. 1715–20 ― Iliad ii. 126 Fainter murmurs dy'd upon the ear. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey v. xii, The words died on Vivian's lips. 1832 Tennyson Miller's Dau. 74, I watch'd the little circles die. 1859 ― Elaine 323 The living smile Died from his lips. |
12. a. To pass by dying (
into something else); to change (
into something) at death or termination.
| 1633 Earl of Manchester Al Mondo (1636) 27 The brightest dayes dye into dark nights, but rise againe a mornings. 1645 Bp. Hall Remedy Discontents 20 The day dyes into night. 1742 Young Nt. Th. vi. 697 The world of matter, with its various forms, All dies into new life. 1755 ― Centaur ii. 87 He that lives in the kingdom of Sense shall die into the kingdom of Sorrow. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 96 The rivers die into offensive pools. 1842 Tennyson Day-Dream 188 The twilight died into the dark. |
b. Archit. To merge
into, lose itself by passing
into; to terminate gradually
in or
against.
Cf. 13 c.
| 1665 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 88 A Parapet..is let into, or made to die against the Columns. 1859 Jephson Brittany xviii. 291 The mouldings of the arches die into the pillars. 1870 F. R. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 116 There is a staircase turret which dies into the tower. |
III. With adverbs, forming compound verbs.
13. die away.
a. To pass away from life gradually; to faint or swoon away.
| 1707 Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 62 We see several Plants grow dry, and dy away. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 3 ¶7 She fainted and died away at the sight. 1713 ― Cato. iv. i, I die away with horror at the thought. 1725 Pope Odyss. xiv. 401 Oh! had he..in his friend's embraces dy'd away! 1821 Shelley Prometh. Unb. ii. ii. 21 Droops dying away On its mate's music-panting bosom. 1853 R. W. Browne Grk. Classical Lit. (1857) 138 My feeble pulse forgot to play, I fainted, sank, and died away. |
b. To diminish gradually in force or activity and so come to an end; to fade away, cease or disappear gradually.
| 1680 W. Hacke Collect. Voy. (1699) II. 15 The wind in the mean time dying away, I was becalmed. 1706 A. Bedford Temple Mus. ix. 172 The Voices..seem to die away. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 427 ¶2 Thus groundless Stories die away. 1792 S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. ii. 91 At his feet the thunder dies away. 1837 Disraeli Venetia iii. vii, The day died away, and still he was wanting. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxv. 81 The breeze died away at night. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxiv. 175 The direct shock of each avalanche had died away. |
c. Archit. and
Carpentry. To pass or merge gradually into the adjacent structure.
Cf. 12 b.
| 1869 E. J. Reed Ship-build. v. 76 To be 2 feet deep amidships and to extend across until they die away with rise of floor. 1873 Ferguson in Tristram Land of Moab 373 The arch must have died away against the towers. |
† d. trans. To cause to die or come to an end.
rare—1.
| 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) VIII. 33 By little and little, in such a gradual sensible death..God dies away in us, as I may say, all human satisfaction, in order to subdue his poor creatures to himself. |
14. die back. Said of the recent shoot of a plant: To die from the apex back to the woody or perennial part.
Cf. die down; herbaceous plants die down to the ground, tender shoots die back to the old wood.
| 1850 Beck's Florist Nov. 265 The shrub..will in a manner prune itself, or at least those shoots that require removing will die back, and there will be only the dead wood to cut away. 1928 F. T. Brooks Plant. Dis. xii. 201 Stone fruit trees often die back in association with the presence of various fungi. |
15. die down.
a. To subside gradually into a dead or inactive state; to die away.
| 1834 Keble in Lyra Apost. (1849) 58 The deep knell dying down. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 179 Laughter dying down as the great knight Approach'd them. 1874 Green Short Hist. vi. §1. 267 The war died down into mere massacre and brigandage. 1894 Antiquary May 222 The tin trade of Cornwall died down. Mod. The fire was left to die down of itself. |
b. Of plants: To die down to the ground, while the underground stem and roots survive.
| 1895 Home Garden 40 To secure perfect blooms [of Crocus], the foliage must be left to die down of its own accord. Mod. This Polygonum attains a height of ten feet, and yet dies down entirely in the winter. |
16. die off.
a. To go off, be removed or carried off, one after another, by death.
| 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. 113 It is usual with sick men coming from the Sea Air to dye off as soon as ever they come within the view of the Land. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1742) III. 292 A Gentleman's Friends may die off. 1807 Southey Espriella's Lett. III. 100 The Russian soldiers..sickened and died off like rotten sheep. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge vii, Accustomed to wish with great emphasis that the whole race of women could but die off. 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. xi. 649 That generation having died off. Mod. If the cattle and other stock are not sold off, they will die off. The cuttings in the frames damped off, the plants in the greenhouse died off. |
b. transf. Of sounds, etc.: To die away, to pass away.
| 1722 De Foe Plague (1884) 10 This Rumour died off again. 1805 Flinders in Phil. Trans. XCVI. 245 On the wind dying off..it descended quickly to 30 inches. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 45 If the harsh throes of the prelude die not off into the swell. 1886 Sir F. Doyle Reminiscences 175 So the debate died off. |
17. die out.
a. Of a family or race (of animals or plants): To be (gradually) extinguished by death; to become extinct.
| 1865 Seeley Ecce Homo iv. (1866) 38 His house soon dies out. 1866 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 306 So sad that one's family should die out. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 163 Barbarous nations when they are introduced by Europeans to vice die out. 1887 F. B. Zincke Hist. Wherstead 173 They never bore any more fruit, and gradually died out. |
b. To go out, or come to an end (gradually); to pass away or become extinct by degrees.
| 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxvii. (1856) 219 The lard-lamp died out in the course of the night. 1872 Freeman Gen. Sketch xii. §21. 232 In England villainage was on the whole dying out. 1885 Truth 11 June 936/2 Public interest had flagged and gradually died out. 1887 Athenæum 7 May 603/3 To tell how the religions of Greece and Rome died out. 1892 Du Maurier Peter Ibbetson 43 The last red streak dies out of the wet west. |
† 18. die up. To die off entirely, to perish.
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 4703 (Cott.) Þan deid þe bestes vp biden, Thoru þe hunger þat was sa kene. c 1340 Ibid. 4831 (Trin.) Þe folke deȝeþ vp al by dene. 1475 Bk. Noblesse (1860) 42 His peple died up by gret mortalite of pestilence. 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 76/1 Most part of the husbandmen..died up with the famine and pestilence. |
Add:
[II.] [8.] c. transf. Of an internal combustion engine: to cease to function, to stop running. Also with vehicle as
subj.| 1927 C. A. Lindbergh We viii. 134 At 5,000 feet the engine sputtered and died. 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard viii. 235 At ten past two Feast finally arrived home after running out of petrol; the gauge had indicated a quarter of a tank when it died. 1986 Road Sport Aug. 24/2 While queuing for the start the Manta died, but the marshals insisted that he start the stage on his due time. |
Add:
[I.] [3.] d. to die for: (as if) worth dying for; superlatively good or highly desirable; extraordinary. Also
to die, fabulous, astonishing.
colloq. (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.).
| 1898 E. N. Westcott David Harum xxiii. 209 Oh! and to ‘top off’ with, a mince-pie to die for. 1980 G. B. Trudeau (title) A tad overweight, but violet eyes to die for. 1982 A. Maupin Further Tales of City 96 The guy had this incredible loft..with neon tubing over the bed and high-tech everything..to die, right? 1986 Philadelphia Inquirer 11 July e3/2 The dark chocolate is to die for—it actually tastes dark. 1992 M. Riva Marlene Dietrich 645 The things he said about Olivier..to die! 1993 Face Apr. 73/2 Lacroix and Lagerfeld remained the to-die-for labels. |
▪ IV. die, v.2 [f. die n.1] trans. To furnish with a die; to mould or shape with a die.
| 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 213 The Sheathing-nail ought not to go through the Plank..and the Head must be well clasped, or died, so as it may sink into the Wood. 1885 Harper's Mag. LXX. 282 Every machine-made shoe also has an ‘inner sole’ died out or moulded, to correspond in shape with the ‘outer sole’. |
▪ V. die obs. form of
dye v.
and n.