life-and-death

adjective

ˈlīf-ən(d)-ˈdeth 

variants or less commonly life-or-death

ˈlīf-ər-ˈdeth 

: involving or culminating in life or death : vitally important as if involving life or death

Examples of life-and-death in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

East and West are once again locked in a life-and-death confrontation, even as Putin fires off a fusillade of threats to launch nuclear missiles against any Western power that comes to Ukraine’s aid. — Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026

Digital advances also raise pressing questions about the ethics of outsourcing life-and-death decisions to machines. — Phillips Payson O’Brien, The Atlantic, 18 July 2026

The life-and-death rescue played out on a narrow suspension cable above shocked motorists, pedestrians and the gleaming water below the bridge. — Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 9 July 2026

For our hunter-gatherer ancestors, getting enough of these critical nutrients was a daily life-and-death struggle. — Sandee Lamotte, CNN Money, 17 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1804, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for life-and-death

• beth
• breath
• death
• heth
• lethe
• meth
• neath
• seth
• sheth
• sneath
• shibboleth

Kids Definition

life-and-death

adjective

: ending in life or death : deciding which will survive

a life-and-death struggle