to lose one's life
- idiom
:
perder la vida
- He lost his life that night
Instead of saying this is a, this is a terrible tragedy and we've already lost one life.
- Instead of saying this is a, this is a terrible tragedy and we've already lost one life.
Examples
-
107 people lost their lives last year in hit-and-run collisions.
-
At least ten are dead, including veteran detectives Ray Kincaid and Ellen Ridgway, who tragically lost their lives in the line of duty.
-
Could you believe that my sister lost her life in this way?
-
Several of my employees lost their lives that day.
-
At least 300 men, women and children have lost their lives.
-
Last year over 200 blazes were reported, and 11 people lost their lives.
-
You know one of our students lost his life a few nights back at the Dells.
-
Several of my employees lost their lives that day.
-
At least 300 men, women and children have lost their lives.
-
Last year over 200 blazes were reported, and 11 people lost their lives.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To stop living and no longer be alive
520
1.1
To stop living because of a cause like disease or old age
121
6.0
To die suddenly or violently, often in large numbers
57
9.9
To die suddenly from an accident or attack
1
9.7
To stop living as a natural part of life
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: a learner who knows 'lose' and 'life' can infer that 'lose one's life' means to cease living. This construction is a literal and cross-linguistically common way to express death (e.g., perder la vida, perdre la vie), so it is immediately understandable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Lose one's life uses lose in the same way we say we can lose an object and life as something you no longer have; imagine losing a wallet and never finding it again. That's why the phrase means 'to die', often because of an accident, violence, or disaster.