Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Die?

\Die\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Died}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Dying}.] [OE. deyen, dien, of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. deyja; akin to Dan. d["o]e, Sw. d["o], Goth. diwan (cf. Goth. afd?jan to harass), OFries. d?ia to kill, OS. doian to die, OHG. touwen, OSlav. daviti to choke, Lith. dovyti to torment. Cf. {Dead}, {Death}.] 1. To pass from an animate to a lifeless state; to cease to live; to suffer a total and irreparable loss of action of the vital functions; to become dead; to expire; to perish; -- said of animals and vegetables; often with of, by, with, from, and rarely for, before the cause or occasion of death; as, to die of disease or hardships; to die by fire or the sword; to die with horror at the thought. To die by the roadside of grief and hunger. --Macaulay. She will die from want of care. --Tennyson. 2. To suffer death; to lose life. In due time Christ died for the ungodly. --Rom. v. 6. 3. To perish in any manner; to cease; to become lost or extinct; to be extinguished. Letting the secret die within his own breast. --Spectator. Great deeds can not die. --Tennyson. 4. To sink; to faint; to pine; to languish, with weakness, discouragement, love, etc. His heart died within, and he became as a stone. --1 Sam. xxv. 37. The young men acknowledged, in love letters, that they died for Rebecca. --Tatler. 5. To become indifferent; to cease to be subject; as, to die to pleasure or to sin. 6. To recede and grow fainter; to become imperceptible; to vanish; -- often with out or away. Blemishes may die away and disappear amidst the brightness. --Spectator. 7. (Arch.) To disappear gradually in another surface, as where moldings are lost in a sloped or curved face. 8. To become vapid, flat, or spiritless, as liquor. {To die in the last ditch}, to fight till death; to die rather than surrender. ``There is one certain way,'' replied the Prince [William of Orange] `` by which I can be sure never to see my country's ruin, -- I will die in the last ditch.'' --Hume (Hist. of Eng. ). {To die out}, to cease gradually; as, the prejudice has died out. Syn: To expire; decease; perish; depart; vanish.
\Die\, n.; pl. in 1 and (usually) in 2, {Dice} (d[=i]s); in 4 & 5, {Dies} (d[=i]z). [OE. dee, die, F. d['e], fr. L. datus given, thrown, p. p. of dare to give, throw. See {Date} a point of time.] 1. A small cube, marked on its faces with spots from one to six, and used in playing games by being shaken in a box and thrown from it. See {Dice}. 2. Any small cubical or square body. Words . . . pasted upon little flat tablets or dies. --Watts. 3. That which is, or might be, determined, by a throw of the die; hazard; chance. Such is the die of war. --Spenser. 4. (Arch.) That part of a pedestal included between base and cornice; the dado. 5. (Mach.) (a) A metal or plate (often one of a pair) so cut or shaped as to give a certain desired form to, or impress any desired device on, an object or surface, by pressure or by a blow; used in forging metals, coining, striking up sheet metal, etc. (b) A perforated block, commonly of hardened steel used in connection with a punch, for punching holes, as through plates, or blanks from plates, or for forming cups or capsules, as from sheet metal, by drawing. (c) A hollow internally threaded screw-cutting tool, made in one piece or composed of several parts, for forming screw threads on bolts, etc.; one of the separate parts which make up such a tool. {Cutting die} (Mech.), a thin, deep steel frame, sharpened to a cutting edge, for cutting out articles from leather, cloth, paper, etc. {The die is cast}, the hazard must be run; the step is taken, and it is too late to draw back; the last chance is taken.