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deathbed

deathbed

52 4.6
The bed where someone is dying or the short time just before they die
  • noun
  • /ˈdɛθˌbɛd/
translation icon : lecho de muerte
  • He managed to smile at each of us around his deathbed, fearless to the very end.
  • lie on one's deathbed
  • a deathbed scene
  • utter on one's deathbed

Pumps did this basically from her deathbed because the show must go on.

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Examples

  • Neil and I had raced home to be there at his deathbed because things got very bad very fast.

  • I grew very close to him and I remained so until I was at his deathbed in Paris.

  • And this guy who is on his deathbed gave us everything he had.

  • I made the mistake of telling my dad on his deathbed that it was wrong.

  • I have sat at the deathbed of two people in my life.

  • That cop on his deathbed gave us the exact location in a map.

  • My mother was literally on her deathbed when he left home.

  • On his deathbed, he revealed your existence to Louis and your mother.

  • I promised my mother on her deathbed; I said, "Mom, don't worry about a thing."

    Fiction book (2000)
  • On his deathbed, he shared stories from his youth that brought everyone to tears.

Surface Forms

deathbed singular
deathbeds plural

Morphology

deathbed = death + bed (transparent) = death + bed

The sense is a direct compound of 'death' and 'bed' meaning the bed where someone is dying or the time just before death, which learners can derive from the parts.

Etymology

Deathbed is made from death ('the end of life') and bed ('a place where someone lies'). It literally means the bed where someone is dying and also the last moments before death, so it is used for final words, decisions, or confessions.