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Glite Dictionary
to breathe one's last

to breathe one's last

2 7.9
To stop living
  • idiom
  • Literature
translation icon : dar su último suspiro
  • The fissure all around her seemed to be breaking apart, and she was certain that she was about to breathe her last.
  • breathed her last breath

Examples

  • Well, it has been just a year since Dolly breathed her last, Lucille thought.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • And where was her mother when poor Princess Charlotte breathed her last?

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The Chief knew he was breathing his last breath.

    Jungle Cruise (2021)

  • And where was I when he was breathing his last breath?

    Old Dogs (2009)

  • "We got to the end of Mass," Johnson recalled. "I said, 'Go in peace,' and he breathed his last."

    Blog text (20)

  • The fact that she was not present when her father breathed his last was something she desperately wanted to compensate for.

    Blog text (29)

  • He had been there when she breathed her last.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • He thanked God that he was saved, and within moments, breathed his last in the arms of one of my sailors.

    Remember the Sultana (2015)

  • Gustav breathed his last and shuddered to stillness on the cold stone.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • After a long illness, he finally breathed his last in the hospital.

Synonyms

to die
vsto breathe one's last
∞ 1.0

To stop living and no longer be alive

focuses on a final physical act at life's end rather than broader senses
to pass away
vsto breathe one's last
8 3.8

To die peacefully in a gentle, respectful way

refers to a final physical moment rather than polite or gentle wording
to draw one's last breath
vsto breathe one's last
2 8.1

To breathe for the last time before you die

is the same meaning but uses a slightly different phrasing
to snuff it
vsto breathe one's last
  • Slang
2 9.9

To stop living and not come back

uses more neutral or poetic phrasing rather than crude slang
to close one's eyes for the last time
vsto breathe one's last
1 8.5

To stop living

focuses on a final physical action rather than a calm sleep image

Antonyms

to live
∞ 1.0

To continue to be alive

Surface Forms

breathe one's last infinitive
breathed one's last past
breathed one's last past participle
breathing one's last present participle
breathes one's last third person singular

Morphology

breathe + one + last

The meaning 'to die' is directly derivable from the parts: 'breathe' (to draw breath) combined with 'one's last' (final), yielding the obvious idea of taking a final breath. This is a transparent, compositional pattern (cf. 'take one's last breath' and equivalent expressions in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would likely infer the meaning.

Etymology

Breathe one's last comes from the simple image of someone taking their final breath: the word breathe means to take air and last shows it is the very final one. So the phrase means 'to die'.