at death's door

See also: at Death's door

English

Alternative forms

• at Death's door

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Prepositional phrase

at death's door

1. (idiomatic) About to die; in a life-threatening state of health.

   Synonyms: knocking on heaven's door, on one's deathbed

   • 1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter IX, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume III, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 235:

     The minstrel woman who left the Castle yesterday has spread the report everywhere, that the Duke of Rothsay is murdered, or at death's door.

   • 1913 August, Jack London, chapter XXXII, in John Barleycorn, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 290:

     One of my Polynesian sailors lay at death's door with blackwater fever.

   • 2008 June 29, Josh Quittner, “Bill Gates: PC Genius, Internet Fool”, in Time:

     Clearly, a business with $26 billion in cash reserves isn't exactly at death's door.

Translations

about to die

• Ainu: マイマイケ (maymayke)
• Azerbaijani: bir ayağı burda, bir ayağı gorda
• Catalan: a les portes de la mort
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 瀕臨死亡／濒临死亡 (bīnlín sǐwáng)

• Finnish: kuolemaisillaan, kuoleman kielissä
• French: aux portes de la mort, à l’agonie, à l’article de la mort (fr)
• Galician: ás portas da morte
• German: an der Schwelle des Todes
• Icelandic: dauðvona (is) m, liggja fyrir dauðanum, vera langt leiddur, vera í andarslitrunum, berja nestið
• Irish: ar deireadh
• Italian: al capolinea, al lumicino
• Latin: moribundus (la), capulāris
• Maori: whakahemohemo
• Norman: au nom d'mort, sus l'pus, au pas d'la mort
• Polish: jedną nogą w grobie, na łożu śmierci, u progu śmierci
• Portuguese: às portas da morte (pt), nas portas da morte, no bico do corvo (pt)
• Romanian: cu un picior în groapă, în pragul morții, pe moarte
• Russian: при́ сме́рти (ru) (prí smérti) (preposition stressed), на сме́ртном одре́ (ru) (na smértnom odré), одно́й ного́й в моги́ле (odnój nogój v mogíle), на краю́ гро́ба (na krajú gróba)
• Spanish: a las últimas
• Turkish: ölümün eşiğinde
• Welsh: wrth borth marwolaeth

See also

• final curtain