at death's door
7
7.6
- idiom
:
al borde de la muerte
- After suffering a heart attack, he was rushed to the hospital, as he seemed to be at death's door.
- knocking at death's door
Examples
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Doctor, she's at death's door.
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We're at death's door, Harley, and the devil's a-knockin'.
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I thought you were at death's door.
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I stand at death's door.
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When I was lying there in that hospital bed at death's door.
Fiction book (1991) -
And there have been times when I have been at death's door and something or someone has saved me from death.
Blog text (27) -
I found him at death's door, halfway up the hill.
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And with no donor available, he finally found himself at death's door.
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When she was at death's door, they preyed on her faith and her fear.
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The outgoing Bush administration had used TARP funds to throw a lifeline to General Motors and Chrysler, but the two automakers were still at death's door.
Blog text (19)
Synonyms
3
8.0
Almost dying because of old age or poor health
1
9.9
Very near death or in a very serious emergency
1
2.4
Close to stopping living or being used
A time when someone is about to die
To be very close to death
Antonyms
How Ill
Surface Forms
Morphology
at + death's + door
The phrase literally places someone 'at the door' of death, so its meaning 'very close to death' follows directly from combining 'death' (the state of dying) with 'door' (a threshold/gateway). The threshold/door metaphor for proximity to a state is common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would very likely infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
The idiom at death's door creates a strong image: imagine death standing at your door as someone lies very ill. That image is why the phrase means 'very close to dying'.