Meanings
- alternativenot comparableAlternative form of life-or-death.
Anyone who knew you were gay, especially if they were straight, had life-and-death power over you. That person could lose you your job, get you evicted, or have you generally hounded out of town.
1986, Samuel R. Delany, Joseph Beam, “The Possibility of Possibilities”, in Joseph Beam, editor, In The Life: A Black Gay Anthology, page 1861 more example
Serious times demand honesty and self-awareness from people in positions of authority and, at the end of the day, political parties giving succour to fringe views about life-and-death matters is a Faustian pact. This isn’t speculation, or a serve of two-bit punditry to fuel the opinion cycle. This is the lesson of Donald Trump.
2021 February 2, Katharine Murphy, “Scott Morrison must heed the lesson of Donald Trump and slap down Craig Kelly”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2021
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivevitally important
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Cite this entry
life-and-death. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/life-and-death
“life-and-death.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/life-and-death. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “life-and-death,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/life-and-death.
Source: life-and-death on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.