do or die
4
6.7
- idiom
- Informal
:
hacer o morir
- In the championship game, it was a do or die situation; we had to win to make the playoffs.
- do or die situation
Well, it is do or die now for Merrick Garland.
- Well, it is do or die now for Merrick Garland.
- So for me, I was coming to Los Angeles like, do or die, man.
- The problem is now we are at a do or die moment and the fear of the do or die gets priced in.
- But at the same time, the other strength I had was that for me, it was do or die on the field.
- I mean playoff anything, when it's do or die, it's just it just brings the stakes up and in the you.
- So I mean, you're you're right, your generation is going to be stuck, unfortunately, dealing with all these problems and it's kind of do or die time.
Examples
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"The variables are cut way down; it's just do or die," Whittingham said.
Blog text (10) -
This is do or die, gentlemen.
-
But at the same time, the other strength I had was that for me, it was do or die on the field.
-
Those for me, it's a do or die moment, you know what I mean?
-
At this point, it's do or die.
Blog text (10) -
It was getting to the point of do or die.
Blog text (15) -
Well, it is do or die now for Merrick Garland.
-
That feeling hasn't gone away; there is still the feeling that this is a do-or-die moment for the country.
Blog text (12) -
This is a do-or-die year for Smith; no Lombardi trophy, big disappointment.
Blog text (22) -
Tay, of course, is the important Indiana primary and because we tape early, I don't know who won yet, but I do know that it was do or die for Senator Ted Cruz.
Synonyms
2
7.2
Willing to do anything to succeed when the situation is urgent
Antonyms
How Critical
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal constituents 'do' and 'die' present a stark either/or choice, so learners can infer an extreme alternative rather than a literal threat; however the idiomatic nuance — that success is imperative and failure is not an option — is a conventionalized, metaphorical extension of 'die' rather than a directly compositional meaning. A B1 learner who knows the words might guess a high-stakes choice but would not reliably derive the exact sense without prior exposure, so the expression is partially but not fully transparent.
Etymology
The idiom do or die comes from a hard choice in battle, where soldiers were told to do, to act and fight, or die, a strong image of success or death. That's why today it means 'you must succeed' because 'failure is not an option'.