sudden death

plural sudden deaths

1. countableAn instantaneous, unexpected death not caused by violence or trauma.
2. countableuncountablegamesA period or mode of play in which the next player or team to score wins instantly; often in an extra period of time following a tie at the end of the regular period of play.

   Synonyms: sudden victory

3. IndiacountablehistoricalslanguncountableA meal of a chicken freshly slaughtered and spatchcocked.

   An old sinner, in shape of a khansamah, is the genius of the place, and has rarely aught else to tempt the tired traveller with than a “sudden death”—a fowl caught running in the yard, and dished up forthwith; […]

   1866, Frederick F. Wyman, From Calcutta to the Snowy Range, page 330

   1 more example

   Our next dish is one which has shown no signs of scarcity since we reached India, — the ever present chicken, or “sudden death,” as it is called here, from the Anglo-Indian custom of cooking a fowl that has been running about the garden half an hour before.

   1892, Mary Thorn Carpenter, A Girl's Winter in India, page 209

4. countableuncountableUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see sudden, death.