Meanings
- informalAt all. (Used with "can't", "couldn't" etc. to emphasize a lack of skill.)
I can't dance to save my life.
1 more example
After she began to have a Governoress for Stuyvesant Jimpson and an Imported Nurse for the little Evelyn Jimpson her memory began to blur in spots and she couldn’t have done up the Dishes to save her life.
1902 September 7, George Ade, “Modern Fables By George Ade. The Modern Fable of the Troubles of the Unemployed and the Danger of Changing from Bill to Harold.”, in Idaho Daily Statesman, Boise, Ida., page 16, column 5Synonyms: for the life of one, even if one's life depended on it, for toffee
- excessiveinformalUnder any circumstances; [I'd] rather die than ... (Used with "will not", "would not" etc. to emphasize refusal.)
She wouldn't eat baked beans to save her life.
Synonyms & antonyms
phraseAt all. (Used with "can't", "couldn't" etc. to emphasize a lack of skill.)
Translations
French même si sa vie en dépendait
- même si sa vie en dépendaitTranslations
Spanish para salvar su vida, para salvarse la vida
- para salvar su vidaTranslations
- para salvarse la vidaTranslations
Cite this entry
to save one's life. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/to%20save%20one's%20life
“to save one's life.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/to%20save%20one's%20life. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “to save one's life,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/to%20save%20one's%20life.
Source: to save one's life on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.