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

Experts say the decrease in the overall cancer death rate is probably due to a combination of several factors. — Korin Miller, SELF, "Cancer Deaths Have Declined 27 Percent in 25 Years, But Not Everyone Is Seeing the Same Benefit," 8 Jan. 2019 So when smoking rates declined, a drop in the cancer death rate followed. — Julia Belluz, Vox, "We’re making real progress against cancer. But you may not know it if you’re poor.," 8 Jan. 2019 Chemotherapy — along with a decline in smoking and better early detection — has helped bring the cancer death rate down by more than a quarter since 1991. — Maggie Fox /, NBC News, "Is chemo obsolete? Not by a long shot, cancer experts say," 24 June 2018 The state’s youth suicide death rate is 35% below the national average. — The Economist, "What works to reduce gun deaths," 22 Mar. 2018 In 2016, Alabama's gunfire death rate was the second-highest in the United States, with 21.51 fatalities per 100,000 people, according to the Center. — Ashley Remkus, AL.com, "Alabama's gunfire death rate jumps 22 percent in 7 years, according to new report," 17 Jan. 2018 The correlation is extremely strong between levels of foreign aid for health and decreasing death rates for some of the deadliest diseases. — Bill Gates, WSJ, "Bill Gates: The Best Investment I’ve Ever Made," 16 Jan. 2019 Those data showed that the nationwide cancer death rate hit its peak of 215.1 deaths per 100,000 people in 1991 and dropped by 1.5 percent each year to 156 per 100,000 people in 2016. — Korin Miller, SELF, "Cancer Deaths Have Declined 27 Percent in 25 Years, But Not Everyone Is Seeing the Same Benefit," 8 Jan. 2019 The cancer death rate in the US has dropped by 27 percent since 1991 First, the good news for the United States. — Julia Belluz, Vox, "We’re making real progress against cancer. But you may not know it if you’re poor.," 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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24 May 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