to die of
560
1.1
- phrasal verb
- /daɪ ʌv/
- And he died of pneumonia.
- die of cancer
- die of AIDS
- die of a disease
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Watch on YouTubeAnd so yes, in fact, some people could die of a broken heart.
- And so yes, in fact, some people could die of a broken heart.
- And they're essentially left to die of starvation and thirst.
- What are the relatives dying of and at what age?
- And my mother died of a heart attack, which was standard.
- Dawn Sturgis died of Novichok in Salisbury.
- The last child born to the family had died of pneumonia, but Juan survived.
- And but just what, two years later, he died of cancer?
- And I think people need to realize far more people die of cold than heat.
- Great, now I'm going to die of starvation down here.
- One of the Montreal players, Joe Hall, dies of the flu four days later.
- They're not so likely to die of diarrhea, malaria, HIV.
- And then in real life, he's probably dying of the plague.
Examples
-
If that goes, is it possible that she would die of a broken heart?
Fiction book (1991) -
We will never know; he died of cancer on 8 July 1990.
Academic text (1991) -
And so yes, in fact, some people could die of a broken heart.
-
And my mother died of a heart attack, which was standard.
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And but just what, two years later, he died of cancer?
-
You know, his son Beau died of brain cancer.
-
We've all known people have died of cancer or have had cancer.
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Her father, Vince, died of COVID five days later.
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She died of breast cancer.
-
He died of pneumonia after a long battle with the disease.
Synonyms
120
6.0
To die suddenly or violently, often in large numbers
87
8.4
Die suddenly, often from shock or extreme tiredness
20
3.8
To die peacefully in a gentle, respectful way
1
4.2
Die because of an accident, violence, or disaster
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
die + of
The meaning 'to pass away as a result of a specified cause' is directly derived from 'die' (to cease living) combined with the preposition 'of' marking cause. This cause-marking construction is common cross-linguistically (e.g., Spanish 'morir de', French 'mourir de'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Die of gives a simple picture: die is the action and of shows the cause, as when someone dies of hunger or disease. So, it means 'to die because of' something.