mortality
noun
\
Definition of mortality
1 : the quality or state of being mortal Her husband's death reminded her of her own mortality.
2 : the death of large numbers (as of people or animals) trying to reduce infant mortality
3 archaic : death
4 : the human race that natural extinction to which all mortality is subject —Thomas Paine
5a : the number of deaths in a given time or place The mortality among the infected mounted daily.
b : the proportion of deaths to population a brain infection with a mortality rate of about 30 percent —Jane E. Brody
c : the number lost or the rate of loss or failure the mortality rate of small businesses
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Examples of mortality in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The story is a sad but funny meditation on mortality and the indignities of aging flesh. — Michael Berry, San Francisco Chronicle, "Science fiction and fantasy books: ‘Belly Up,’ ‘What Should Be Wild,’ ‘84K’," 7 June 2018 Those who maintained or improved their fitness over 4.2 years had a 40 percent lower mortality rate than those who lost fitness due to insufficient activity. — Amby Burfoot, courant.com, "Middle Age Not Too Late To Increase Cardiac Fitness, Studies Show," 1 June 2018 Most of the panels, regardless of topic, touched on maternal mortality at some point. — Forrest Milburn, San Antonio Express-News, "Lawmakers urge more action to grapple with Texas’ maternal health problems," 2 Feb. 2018 Most of the panels, regardless of topic, touched on maternal mortality at some point. — Forrest Milburn, Houston Chronicle, "Lawmakers urge more action to grapple with Texas’ maternal health problems," 1 Feb. 2018 Good seems to have her mind on mortality — not her own, but that of the Charley Project. — Jeremy Lybarger, Longreads, "The Encylopedia of the Missing," 11 Jan. 2018 One of the reasons for that is the main focus of the studies has been on mortality from heat waves, and there hasn't been that much focus on morbidity. — Katherine Harmon, Scientific American, "How Does a Heat Wave Affect the Human Body?," 23 July 2010 As for health, Singapore has had one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world for years. — Shlomo Angel, WSJ, "‘Building and Dwelling’ Review: A Manifesto for the Open City," 6 July 2018 But experts aren’t sure what is raising their mortality rate. — New York Times, "Orcas of the Pacific Northwest Are Starving and Disappearing," 9 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mortality.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for mortality
mortality
noun
English Language Learners Definition of mortality
: the quality or state of being a person or thing that is alive and therefore certain to die : the quality or state of being mortal
: the death of a person, animal, etc.
: the number of deaths that occur in a particular time or place
See the full definition for mortality in the English Language Learners Dictionary
mortality
noun
\
Medical Definition of mortality
1 : the quality or state of being mortal
2a : the number of deaths in a given time or place
b
: the proportion of deaths to population : death rate
— called also
mortality rate
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