50 Idioms for Dying With Meanings & Sentences
Idioms for Dying
1. Kick the bucket
Meaning: To die.
In a Sentence: Sadly, he kicked the bucket last week after a short illness.
Other Ways to Say: Pass away, perish, meet one’s maker.
2. Bite the dust
Meaning: To suffer defeat or to die.
In a Sentence: After a long battle with illness, Grandma finally bit the dust peacefully in her sleep.
Other Ways to Say: Meet one’s end, croak.
3. Give up the ghost
Meaning: To die or stop functioning.
In a Sentence: The old car finally gave up the ghost on the highway.
Other Ways to Say: Pass on, cease to exist.
4. Pushing up daisies
Meaning: To be dead and buried.
In a Sentence: Poor old Rover is pushing up daisies now; he was a good dog.
Other Ways to Say: Six feet under, resting in peace.
5. Cross the great divide
Meaning: To pass away.
In a Sentence: When he crossed the great divide, his legacy lived on.
Other Ways to Say: Enter the afterlife, pass away.
6. Sleep with the fishes
Meaning: To be murdered and disposed of (slang).
In a Sentence: The mobster disappeared and was rumored to be sleeping with the fishes.
Other Ways to Say: Be killed, be eliminated.
7. Rest in peace
Meaning: A respectful way to say someone has died.
In a Sentence: We laid him to rest and prayed he would rest in peace.
Other Ways to Say: Passed on, eternal rest.
8. Meet one’s maker
Meaning: To die and face God or judgment.
In a Sentence: After the crash, he met his maker.
Other Ways to Say: Pass away, die.
9. Gone to a better place
Meaning: A comforting way to say someone has died.
In a Sentence: We like to think Grandma has gone to a better place.
Other Ways to Say: Departed, passed on.
10. Depart this life
Meaning: To die formally or poetically.
In a Sentence: She departed this life surrounded by her loved ones.
Other Ways to Say: Passed away, left the world.
11. No longer with us
Meaning: To have died.
In a Sentence: He is no longer with us, but his memory lives on.
Other Ways to Say: Deceased, gone.
12. The final curtain
Meaning: The end of life, like the end of a performance.
In a Sentence: His death marked the final curtain on a life of greatness.
Other Ways to Say: The end, final act.
13. Take one’s last breath
Meaning: To die.
In a Sentence: He took his last breath at dawn.
Other Ways to Say: Expire, pass away.
14. Cash in one’s chips
Meaning: To die (slang).
In a Sentence: After a wild life, he cashed in his chips at 90.
Other Ways to Say: Kick the bucket, croak.
15. Breathe your last
Meaning: To take the final breath and die.
In a Sentence: She breathed her last holding her son’s hand.
Other Ways to Say: Pass on, die.
16. Join the choir invisible
Meaning: A humorous or poetic way to say someone has died.
In a Sentence: That parrot has joined the choir invisible.
Other Ways to Say: Passed on, deceased.
17. Go to the great beyond
Meaning: To pass into the afterlife.
In a Sentence: He has gone to the great beyond, free of pain.
Other Ways to Say: Crossed over, entered eternity.
18. Be six feet under
Meaning: Buried underground after death.
In a Sentence: He’s been six feet under for five years now.
Other Ways to Say: Deceased, pushing up daisies.
19. Meet a grim fate
Meaning: To die, often tragically.
In a Sentence: The explorer met a grim fate in the jungle.
Other Ways to Say: Die tragically, meet an end.
20. Lay to rest
Meaning: To bury someone after death.
In a Sentence: They laid her to rest in her hometown.
Other Ways to Say: Inter, bury.
21. Breathe one’s last
Meaning: Take the final breath before dying.
In a Sentence: He breathed his last in his sleep.
Other Ways to Say: Pass away, perish.
22. Cross over
Meaning: To pass from life to death.
In a Sentence: Some believe the soul crosses over after death.
Other Ways to Say: Pass on, enter eternity.
23. Gone the way of all flesh
Meaning: To die like every human must.
In a Sentence: He has gone the way of all flesh.
Other Ways to Say: Died, passed away.
24. Pass away
Meaning: A polite term for dying.
In a Sentence: He passed away last night.
Other Ways to Say: Departed, gone.
25. Snuffed out
Meaning: A life ended suddenly or prematurely.
In a Sentence: His life was snuffed out in a tragic accident.
Other Ways to Say: Ended, extinguished.
26. Exit stage left
Meaning: To leave, or metaphorically, to die.
In a Sentence: He exited stage left after a full life.
Other Ways to Say: Final act, bow out.
27. Go to one’s eternal rest
Meaning: To die and rest forever.
In a Sentence: She’s gone to her eternal rest after much suffering.
Other Ways to Say: Rest in peace, pass away.
28. Say goodbye to the world
Meaning: To die.
In a Sentence: The terminal patient said goodbye to the world peacefully.
Other Ways to Say: Leave this world, die.
29. The light went out
Meaning: To describe someone’s death as their light extinguishing.
In a Sentence: The light went out of her eyes as she passed.
Other Ways to Say: Died, life ended.
30. Join the departed
Meaning: To die and be with others who have passed.
In a Sentence: He has joined the departed, reunited with old friends.
Other Ways to Say: Crossed over, passed on.
31. Enter eternal sleep
Meaning: A poetic way to refer to death.
In a Sentence: She entered eternal sleep with grace.
Other Ways to Say: Final rest, peaceful death.
32. Gone home
Meaning: A spiritual way to describe death.
In a Sentence: They say he’s gone home to the Lord.
Other Ways to Say: Passed on, returned to God.
33. Off to the next world
Meaning: To pass into the afterlife.
In a Sentence: He’s off to the next world now.
Other Ways to Say: Crossed over, departed.
34. Be called home
Meaning: A religious way of saying someone died.
In a Sentence: He was called home after a lifetime of service.
Other Ways to Say: Passed away, entered heaven.
35. Drop dead
Meaning: To die suddenly.
In a Sentence: He dropped dead from a heart attack.
Other Ways to Say: Collapse, pass away.
36. Be lost
Meaning: Euphemism for someone who has died.
In a Sentence: We lost Uncle Joe last winter.
Other Ways to Say: Gone, passed on.
37. Fade away
Meaning: To die slowly or quietly.
In a Sentence: He faded away after months of illness.
Other Ways to Say: Waste away, pass quietly.
38. Go stiff
Meaning: Die (slang, informal).
In a Sentence: He went stiff before the medics arrived.
Other Ways to Say: Croak, die.
39. Fall asleep in the Lord
Meaning: Christian phrase meaning to die in faith.
In a Sentence: He fell asleep in the Lord surrounded by prayers.
Other Ways to Say: Passed in peace, went home.
40. Check out
Meaning: To leave, euphemism for die.
In a Sentence: Grandpa checked out at 92 with no regrets.
Other Ways to Say: Departed, exited life.
41. Breathe one’s last
Meaning: Take the final breath before dying.
In a Sentence: The soldier breathed his last on the battlefield.
Other Ways to Say: Die, expire.
42. Go silent
Meaning: A poetic way of expressing death.
In a Sentence: After years of laughter, he finally went silent.
Other Ways to Say: Died, quietus.
43. Bow out
Meaning: To leave, especially at the end of life.
In a Sentence: She bowed out gracefully after a full life.
Other Ways to Say: Departed, exited.
44. Pass into legend
Meaning: To die and be remembered.
In a Sentence: The hero passed into legend.
Other Ways to Say: Be remembered, die heroically.
45. Gone forever
Meaning: To have died permanently.
In a Sentence: He is gone forever but not forgotten.
Other Ways to Say: Lost, passed.
46. Drop off the perch
Meaning: Slang term for dying.
In a Sentence: The old bird finally dropped off the perch.
Other Ways to Say: Croak, expire.
47. Ride into the sunset
Meaning: To leave life peacefully, often used in storytelling.
In a Sentence: He rode into the sunset, leaving a legacy behind.
Other Ways to Say: Passed away, departed.
48. Turn up one’s toes
Meaning: Humorous slang for dying.
In a Sentence: The cat turned up its toes after a long life.
Other Ways to Say: Croak, die.
49. Ascend to heaven
Meaning: To die and go to heaven.
In a Sentence: They believe he ascended to heaven after a life of good deeds.
Other Ways to Say: Enter paradise, pass on.
50. Be gone
Meaning: To no longer be alive.
In a Sentence: She is gone, but her memories remain.
Other Ways to Say: Deceased, passed away.
