death rate

noun

Definition of death rate

: the ratio between deaths and individuals in a specified population and time

Examples of death rate in a Sentence

There was a decline in the country's death rate after its health care improved. Lung cancer death rates are up. The death rate from accidents is rising.

Recent Examples on the Web

Arizona has the highest pedestrian death rate in the nation. — Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, "Riding in Waymo One, the Google spinoff’s first self-driving taxi service," 5 Dec. 2018 Photo: Getty Deaths from synthetic opioids rose 45% in 2017, while the death rate from heroin, which had risen sharply after 2010, was flat. — Betsy Mckay, WSJ, "U.S. Life Expectancy Falls Further," 29 Nov. 2018 The death rate varies from village to village, but generally has hovered around 50%. — Thomas M. Burton, WSJ, "U.S. Pulls Ebola Experts From Congo Combat Zones," 14 Nov. 2018 At the time, the island’s hospitals were struggling to function, shortages of diesel fuel were keeping supermarkets closed and generators idle, and the death rate on the island was soaring. — Frances Robles, New York Times, "FEMA Was Sorely Unprepared for Puerto Rico Hurricane, Report Says," 12 July 2018 The non-injury death rate among American youth and adolescents was relatively stable through 2016 after a decline in the previous decade. — Fiza Pirani, ajc, "What’s killing America’s teens? Inside CDC’s new mortality report," 2 June 2018 The map notes that despite the increase in traffic, the death rate remained unchanged. — Betsy Mason, National Geographic, "Explore Historic Mount Everest Expeditions Through National Geographic Maps," 29 May 2018 Just as tobacco use drove cancer death rates earlier, Ms. Siegel said, obesity could influence future projections. — Amy Dockser Marcus, WSJ, "Cancer Deaths Decline 27% Over 25 Years," 8 Jan. 2019 The nation’s cancer death rate was increasing until the early 1990s. — Mike Stobbe, The Seattle Times, "US cancer death rate hits milestone: 25 years of decline," 8 Jan. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'death rate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

15 Mar 2019

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The first known use of death rate was in 1849

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More Definitions for death rate

death rate

noun

English Language Learners Definition of death rate

: a number that shows how many people died in a particular place or during a particular time

: the number of deaths from a specific cause in a particular area during a particular time period

See the full definition for death rate in the English Language Learners Dictionary

death rate

noun

Medical Definition of death rate

: a measure of the number of deaths in a specified population during a particular time period After five years, those receiving the drug suffered 32 percent fewer fatal heart attacks, and their overall death rate was 22 percent lower than that of the men who were given the placebo.— Isadore Rosenfeld, Vogue, February 1996 Ebola is infamous for being highly contagious and causing death rates as high as 90 percent in some human outbreaks.— Brendan Borrell, Scientific American, September 2009