10 Idioms based on Death

Click on any idiom for more information, including example sentences, notes and quizzes.

These are English idioms based on Death and the afterlife. You can also try this Death Idioms Quiz

If something is a matter of life and death, it's extremely important and it could involve someone's survival.

If something is dead in the water, it has no chance of succeeding or of making any progress.

If you're dead to the world, you are sound asleep.

If you dig your own grave, you do something unwise that will result in your own failure or downfall in the future.

If someone kicks the bucket, they die.

If you kill the goose that lays the golden egg, you destroy something that has made you a lot of money.

You kill time when you do something to amuse yourself while waiting for something.

If you kill two birds with one stone, you achieve two things with the one action.

If you make a killing, you make a lot of money from a sale or a deal of some sort.

You can say "Never say die!" if you want to tell someone to keep trying while there's still a chance of success.