List of expressions related to death

This is a list of words and phrases related to death in alphabetical order. While some of them are slang, others euphemise the unpleasantness of the subject, or are used in formal contexts. Some of the phrases may carry the meaning of 'kill', or simply contain words related to death. Most of them are idioms.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Expression	Definition	Context	Remarks
Off on a boat[1]	To die	Euphemistic	This means to die. Viking expression, back into fashion nowadays
Assume room temperature	To die	Euphemistic slang	Used frequently by talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh on The Rush Limbaugh Show, generally when a dictator or an avowed enemy of the United States has died. Originally used in his first book, The Way Things Ought to Be. See also Jargon of The Rush Limbaugh Show.
At peace[2]	Dead	Euphemistic
At rest[2]	Dead	Polite
Beyond the grave[2]	After death	Neutral	The preposition 'from' is often added before the phrase.
Beyond the veil[3]	The mysterious place after death	Neutral	Originally used to refer to the 'veil' that hides the inmost sanctuary of the Temple in Jerusalem. Sometimes refers to just a mysterious place.
Bite the dust[3]	To be killed	Informal	Also means 'failed'
To bite the big one[3]	To die	Informal	North American.
To blow someone's brains out	To shoot someone in the head	Slang
To breathe one's last[2]	To die	Literary
Brown bread[4]	To die	Slang	Cockney rhyming slang for 'dead'.
To buy the farm[3]	To die	Informal	A farm owner who had life insurance would effectively, upon dying, 'buy the farm'.
To cash in one's chips[3]	To die	Informal, euphemistic[1]	This idiom refers to the counters in gambling called 'chips', which are exchanged for cash at the end of the game.
To come to a sticky end[2]	To die in a way that is considered unpleasant	Humorous	British. Also 'to meet a sticky end'.
To count worms[1]	To die	Euphemistic
To croak[5]	To kill	Slang	Also means to die.
Dead as a dodo[3]	Dead	Informal	The term 'dodo' originally comes from the Portuguese word doudo, meaning simpleton. It was applied to the extinct bird because of their lack of intelligence led to their extinction. Therefore, it has been used as an old-fashioned or stupid person since 19th century.[3] Also 'dead as the dodo'.
Dead as a doornail[2]	Obviously dead	Informal	Charles Dickens used this phrase at the beginning of A Christmas Carol.
To depart this life[2]	To die	Neutral
Destroyed/To be destroyed	To be euthanized	Neutral	Usually referring to the death of a pet
To die with one's boots on	To die while able, or during activity, as opposed to in infirmity or while asleep.	Euphemistic	Old West usage: To die in a gunfight, as with the film They Died with Their Boots On. Also connotes dying in combat. British; cf. Iron Maiden's Die With Your Boots On.
Done for[2]	About to die	Neutral	Also means 'to be in a bad situation of which one cannot get out'.[3]
Drop dead[2]	Die suddenly	Neutral	'Just drop dead' is a rude way of telling someone to get lost.
Drop like flies[6]	Dying in droves	Simile	This expression could also mean that they're simply just ill and not necessarily dying.
To be fading away[2]	To be thinner and weaker and close to death.	Neutral	Also 'to be fading fast' or 'sinking fast'
To fall off one's perch[7]	To die	Informal
Food for worms[3]	Someone who is dead	Slang	Also 'worm food'
To free one's horses	To die	Neutral
To give up the ghost[3]	To die	Neutral	Also means 'to stop working' or 'to give up hope'. The Old English meaning of the word 'ghost' is preserved in this idiom.
To go to a better place[8]	To die	Euphemistic	Reference to going to heaven, which is perceived to be better than Earth.
To go over the Big Ridge[9]	To die	Unknown
To go bung[3]	To die	Informal	Australian. Also means 'to fail' or 'to go bankrupt'.
To go for a Burton	To die / break irreparably	Informal	British. From WWII (Gone for a Burton).
To go to Davy Jones's locker[3]	To drown or otherwise die at sea	Euphemistic	Peregrine Pickle describes Davy Jones as 'the fiend that presides over all the evil sprits of the deep'.
To go to the big [location] in the sky	To die and go to heaven	Informal	'Location' is a fancied venue in the afterlife that parallels an earthly venue associated with the deceased, such as "Big ranch in the sky".[10]
To go home in a box[11]	To be shipped to one's birthplace, dead	Slang, euphemistic[1]	Often exaggerated
To go to, or head for, the last roundup[9]	To die	Euphemistic	Associated with dying cowboys, along with "Going to that big ranch in the sky."
To go to one's reward[3]	To die	Euphemistic	This phrase comes from the idea that people get their just deserts after they die.
To go to one's watery grave[2]	To die of drowning	Literary	The death is referred to as a watery grave.
To go out with one's boots on	For the decided to have died while doing something that he or she enjoyed	informal
To go to a Texas cakewalk[9]	To be hanged	Unknown
To go the way of all flesh[3]	To die	Neutral	Also means to come to an end. In the Authorized King James Version of the bible 'all flesh' means 'all humans and animals'.
To go west[3]	To be killed or lost	Informal	Refers to the sun setting at the west.
The Grim Reaper[3]	Personification of death	Cultural	A skeleton with a scythe, often in a cloak
To hand in one's dinner pail[3]	To die	Informal	A dinner pail is a bucket in which a workman used to carry his dinner. See 'kick the bucket' below.
To have bought it[2]	See "buy the farm" above	Slang
To have one foot in the grave[3]	To be close to death because of illness or age	Informal, sometimes humorous
To hop on the last rattler[1]	To die	Euphemistic
To hop the twig[3]	To die	Informal	British. Also 'to hop the stick'. Also means 'to depart suddenly'.
In Abraham's bosom[3]	In heaven	Neutral	From the Holy Bible, Luke 16:22.
To join the choir invisible[12]	To Die	Neutral	From an 1867 poem by George Eliot
To join the great majority[3]	To die	Euphemistic	First used by Edward Young, but the phrase 'the majority' is extremely old.
To kick the bucket[3]	To die	Informal	One theory says that it comes from a method of suicide of the Middle Ages in which one stands on a bucket with a noose tied around their neck. Once they kick the bucket, they are hanged.[13] Another theory is the kind of beam from which a pig is suspended, which is also called a 'bucket' in the Norfolk dialect.[3] Also 'kick off' (American).[2]
To kick the calendar	To die	Slang, informal	Polish saying. 'Calendar' implies somebody's time of death (kicking at particular moment of time)
Killed In Action (KIA)	Death of a military person due to enemy action.	Military language, official and informal use.	Official military language brought to public attention by widespread use in media during the Vietnam War and later books and films on that war. Term continues to be used in connection with military deaths due to enemy activity.
King of Terrors[3]	Personification of death	Neutral
To live on a farm (upstate)	To die	Euphemism	Usually referring to the death of a pet, especially if the owners are parents with children, ie. "The dog went to live on a farm."
To lose one's life[2]	To die in an accident or violent event	Neutral
To make the ultimate sacrifice[2]	To die while fighting for a cause	Formal	Also 'make the supreme sacrifice'
To meet one's maker[3]	To die	Euphemistic	Comes from the Christian belief that a soul needs to see God, its 'maker', after his life for judgment.
Not long for this world[2]	Will die soon; have little time left to live	Old-fashioned	Also not be long for this world
Not with us anymore	Dead	Euphemistic
Off the hooks[3]	Dead	Informal	British. Not to be confused with 'off the hook' (no longer in trouble).
On one's deathbed[2]	Dying	Neutral
One's hour has come[2]	One thinks he's going to die	Literary
On one's last legs[3]	About to die	Informal
One's number is up[2]	One is going to die	Slang
To pass away[2]	To die	Polite	Also 'to pass on'
To pass in one's alley[3]	To die	Informal	Australian
To pay the ultimate price[2]	To die because of something one has done	Neutral	Often applied to a moral reason, similar to "To make the ultimate sacrifice"
To peg out[2]	To die	Slang	British. Also means 'to stop working'
To pop one's clogs[3]	To die	Humorous,[2] Informal[3]	British. In English slang, the word "pop" means the same as "pawn." A 19th century working man who is mortally ill or at the point of death might apocryphally tell his family to take his clothes to the pawn shop to pay for his funeral; especially his clogs which would be his most expensive/valuable items. Sometimes used in the third person, "they've popped his clogs."
Promoted to Glory	Death of a Salvationist	Formal	Salvation Army terminology.
To push up daisies[3]	To have died and be under the ground	Humorous,[2] Euphemistic[1]	This idiom dates back to the early 20th century. Also 'under the daisies' and 'turn one's toes up to the daisies, which date back to the mid 19th century. See 'to turn up one's toes' below.
Put down/put to sleep	To be euthanized	Euphemism	Usually referring to the death of a pet
To put one to the sword	To kill someone	Literary
Rainbow Bridge	Dead	Euphemism	Usually referring to the death of a pet, ie. "Crossing the Rainbow Bridge."
To ride the pale horse[1]	To die	Euphemistic	In the Biblical passage Revelation 6:8, a pale horse is ridden by Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The expression "behold a pale horse" has been used as the title of a 1964 film by Fred Zinnemann and a 1991 book by ufologist William Milton Cooper.
To send one to eternity or to the Promised Land	To kill someone	Literary
To be sent/go to the farm	To die	Informal	Usually referring to the death of a pet, especially if the owners are parents of young children ie. "The dog was sent to a farm."
To shuffle off this mortal coil[2]	To die	Humorous, Literary[3]	Quoted from Shakespeare's Hamlet. Sometimes used as 'this mortal coil' to refer to the fact that one is alive in a troublesome way.[3]
Sleeps with the fishes	Murdered, then disposed of in water.	Slang	Popularized by The Godfather
To be struck down[2]	To be killed by an illness	Neutral	Usually passive
Six feet under[3]	Dead	Informal	Six feet is the traditional depth of a grave
To snuff it[2]	To die	Informal	British
To take a dirt nap[14]	To die and be buried	Slang
To take a last bow[1]	To die	Euphemistic
Take the last train to glory.[3]	To die	Euphemistic	Comes from the Christian belief that a heaven or greater life exists after death for the faithful.
To take one's life[2]	To kill someone	Formal	To take one's own life means to commit suicide.
Tango uniform	Dead, irreversibly broken	Military slang	This is "T.U." in the ICAO spelling alphabet, an abbreviation for Tits Up.
To turn up one's toes[3]	To die	Informal	An alternative of 'turn one's toes up to the daisies' (See 'push up daisies' above.)
Until one's dying day[2]	As long as one lives	Neutral
To up and die	To die, usually before doing some sort of important task	Euphemistic
Wearing a pine overcoat (i.e. a wooden coffin)	Dead	Slang	Idiom used by American gangsters of the early 20th century.
With one's last breath[2]	Before one dies	Literary

See also

• Dead Parrot sketch
• Wikisaurus:die
• Wikisaurus:death

References

1. Terry Deary, Horrible Histories: Wicked Words p. 52-53
2. Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
3. Oxford Dictionary of Idioms
4. "Cockney Rhyming Slang".
5. "The Free Dictionary: Croak". The Free Dictionary.
6. "The Free Dictionary: Drop like flies". The Free Dictionary.
7. Michael McCarthy, Felicity O'Dell. English Idioms in Use. In Use. Cambridge University Press. p. 10. ISBN 0-521-78957-5.
8. "Dead People Go To A Better Place". doorofhope.com. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008.
9. "How did the expression kick the bucket come about when someone dies?". EducationAsk.com.
10. Associated Press (Oct 10, 2006). "Bevo XIII, longest-tenured Longhorns mascot, dies". ESPN.
11. "The Free Dictionary: Go home in a box". The Free Dictionary.
12. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/O_May_I_Join_the_Choir_Invisible
13. Terry Deary, Horrible Histories: Wicked Words, p. 56
14. "The Free Dictionary: Take a Dirt Nap". The Free Dictionary.