Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective About to die.
  • adjective Drawing to an end; declining.
  • adjective Done or uttered just before death.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of expiring; loss of life; death.
  • Physically decaying; failing from life; approaching death or dissolution; moribund: as, a dying man; a dying tree.
  • Mortal; destined to death; perishable: as, dying bodies.
  • Drawing to a close; fading away; failing; languishing: as, the dying year; a dying light.
  • Given, uttered, or manifested just before death: as, dying words; a dying request; dying love.
  • Pertaining to or associated with death: as, a dying hour; a dying bed.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective In the act of dying; destined to death; mortal; perishable.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to dying or death
  • noun The act of expiring; passage from life to death; loss of life.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Approaching death; about to die; moribund;
  • adjective Declining, or drawing to an end.
  • adjective Pertaining to the moments before death
  • adjective stand-up comedy Failing to evoke laughter from the audience.
  • adjective Experiencing strong desire
  • noun plurale tantum Those who are currently expiring, moribund.
  • noun The process of approaching death; or, less precisely, death itself.
  • verb Present participle of die.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective in or associated with the process of passing from life or ceasing to be
  • noun the time when something ends
  • adjective eagerly desirous

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

die +‎ -ing

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word dying.

Examples

  • It's just awful for a young women and mother to be dying so young (which, of course, does not mean it's not awful for all others in the same or similar situations - that should go without saying). i feel sorry that a young person is going to die, but she courts the media so should expect the stick. * jade goody: dying* only on living! the irony

    All - Digital Spy - Entertainment and Media News 2009

  • I don't think you should stick pins when you're dying -- _dying_! "

    Helbeck of Bannisdale — Volume II Humphry Ward 1885

  • Give us a break Sarah, Nobody wants to kill off Grandma but services like Hospice care for the dying is a very important component of health care and helps families cope with the end of life issues that come up when Grandma is dying.

    Palin warns of 'disturbing' health care rationing 2009

  • But on the other hand, my grandmother dying is another once-in-a-lifetime event, and I'm essentially abandoning my mother to deal with it alone.

    The Oscillating Ferrett 2006

  • My stomach gave an involuntary lurch at the word dying, but I tried not to show it.

    The Year I Turned Sixteen Diane Schwemm 1998

  • My stomach gave an involuntary lurch at the word dying, but I tried not to show it.

    The Year I Turned Sixteen Diane Schwemm 1998

  • Supposing, Andrew, that I did "cross over" -- I believe that's what you call dying, -- that I _did_ want to come back to see how you and the little Katie and Frederik were getting on, how do you think I could manage to do it?

    The Return of Peter Grimm David Belasco 1892

  • He also wrote out himself what he called his dying request to his children, in case he should die before his brother.

    Tracy Park Mary Jane Holmes 1866

  • I wasn't even sure what the word "dying" meant anymore….

    Forbes.com: News Forbes Blogs 2011

  • Barr teaches a class to help spread the skills of what she calls a dying art.

    unknown title 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "As for those I speak of, I pluck them as a wild fruit, native to this quarter of the earth,--fruit of old trees that have been dying ever since I was a boy and are not yet dead, frequented only by the wood-pecker and the squirrel, deserted now by the owner, who has not faith enough to look under their boughs." - 'Wild Apples', Henry David Thoreau.

    December 14, 2007

  • Not quite the end.

    November 19, 2009

  • These are some good definitions. Good job, lexicographers of the past.

    April 14, 2023