death rattle

noun

: a rattling or gurgling sound produced by air passing through mucus in the lungs and air passages of a dying person

Examples of death rattle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Even from a few miles away, the death rattle of another Ukrainian city echoed through the mist and fog. Marc Santora Tyler Hicks, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2024 Laughter here doesn't sound too far off from a death rattle. Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 10 Nov. 2023 The death rattle is Kathy Brandt’s. . . . The New Yorker, 23 June 2021 The pair surely also sense, thrumming well below their conscious hearing, the death rattle of their generation and the saber rattle of the coming revolution. Helen Shaw, Vulture, 18 June 2022 So many journalists have got a crazy cough that sounds like a death rattle sometimes. Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 13 Dec. 2022 Crean won’t be bothered with that world anymore, and his words after Georgia’s final loss of the season sounded like a death rattle. Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 10 Mar. 2022 No one knows if a dying person finds the death rattle disturbing or distressing, as no one can pretend to know with certainty the inner subjective experience of anyone too ill to express it. Ira Bedzow, STAT, 26 Oct. 2021 After a fourth blow, a plume of black smoke rose from the machine thirty feet into the air in a final death rattle. Andy Greenberg, Wired, 23 Oct. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'death rattle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1781, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of death rattle was in 1781

Dictionary Entries Near death rattle

Cite this Entry

“Death rattle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/death%20rattle. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Medical Definition

death rattle

noun
: a rattling or gurgling sound produced by air passing through mucus in the lungs and air passages of a dying person
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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