lose one's life

verb

To die, especially to be killed during involvement in an activity or in some other undertaking.

Similar
assume room temperatureauger inbe called homebe gathered to one's fathersbe like the the Onebe no morebe with Jesusbe with the Lord
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Meanings

verblose one's life (third-person singular simple present loses one's life, present participle losing one's life, simple past and past participle lost one's life)

present singular third person loses one's life · participle present losing one's life · participle past lost one's life · past lost one's life

  1. euphemisticTo die, especially to be killed during involvement in an activity or in some other undertaking.

    I have no ambition to lose my life on the post-road between St. Petersburgh and Archangel.

    1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC
    4 more examples

    The people so highly resented this law, that our histories tell us, there have been six rebellions raised on that account; wherein one emperor lost his life.

    1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput)

    “[H]is own wife lost her life with an accident that come to a horse that hadn't room to turn right with a harrow between the bush and the wall.”

    1893, William Butler Yeats, “The Friends of the People of Faery”, in The Celtic Twilight

    “Do you think, Sir, that you could possibly send me on some mission for the paper? . . . anything that had adventure and danger in it. . . .” “You seem very anxious to lose your life.”

    1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 2, in The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC

    [E]nemy fighters killed 2,320 of the troops who lost their lives in Iraq through December 2.

    2006 December 30, Unmesh Kher, “By the Numbers: The U.S. Death Toll”, in Time

    Synonyms: assume room temperature, auger in, be called home, be gathered to one's fathers, be like the the One, be no more, be with Jesus, be with the Lord

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo die, especially to be killed during involvement in an activity or in some other undertaking.

Similar
assume room temperatureauger inbe called homebe gathered to one's fathersbe like the the Onebe no morebe with Jesusbe with the Lordbite the big onebite the biscuitbite the dustbuy the farmbuy itcark itcash incash in one's chipscheck outclose one's eyes for the last timecodeconk out

Translations

Chinese Cantonese 喪生 /丧生
  • 喪生 /丧生to die
Chinese Mandarin 喪生 /丧生
  • 喪生 /丧生 (sàngshēng)to die
Dutch omkomen
  • omkomento die
Finnish menettää henkensä, heittää veivinsä
  • menettää henkensäto die
  • heittää veivinsäto die
French perdre la vie
  • perdre la vieto die
German ums Leben kommen, umkommen
  • ums Leben kommento die
  • umkommento die
Hungarian életét veszti
  • életét vesztito die
Italian perdere la vita
  • perdere la vitato die
Polish tracić życie, utracić życie
  • tracić życieto die
  • utracić życieto die
Portuguese perder a vida
  • perder a vidato die
Russian погиба́ть, поги́бнуть
  • погиба́ть (pogibátʹ)to die
  • поги́бнуть (pogíbnutʹ)to die
  • расстава́ться с жи́знью (rasstavátʹsja s žíznʹju)to die
  • расста́ться с жи́знью (rasstátʹsja s žíznʹju)to die
Tamil உயிரிழ
  • உயிரிழ (uyiriḻa)to die
Cite this entry
APA

lose one's life. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lose%20one's%20life

MLA

“lose one's life.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lose%20one's%20life. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lose one's life,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lose%20one's%20life.

Source: lose one's life on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.