valley of death

noun

Death, or a place or period where death is impending.

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Meanings

nounvalley of death (plural valleys of death)

plural valleys of death

  1. figurativelyDeath, or a place or period where death is impending.

    Into the valley of Death / Rode the six hundred.

    1854 December 9, Lord Alfred Tennyson, “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, in The Examiner
  2. idiomaticA place of great danger.
  3. idiomaticbusinessThe phase of a startup business beginning with the entrepreneur's fulltime commitment to it and ending when the business has achieved sustainable cash flow.

Origin

Likely derived from the Old Testament, Psalm 23: valley of the shadow of death.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

valley of death. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valley%20of%20death

MLA

“valley of death.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valley%20of%20death. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “valley of death,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valley%20of%20death.

Source: valley of death on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.