How to Use life-and-death in a Sentence
life-and-death
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That was a life-and-death matter during the Cedar fire.
—Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Oct. 2023
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The life-and-death drama played out in the heart of country music.
—Keith Sharon, USA TODAY, 2 Sep. 2024
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What about life-and-death situations out on the streets?
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 19 June 2023
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William eventually makes his way to the church to ask Jamie for help on a life-and-death matter.
—Lincee Ray, EW.com, 18 Jan. 2025
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William eventually makes his way to the church to ask Jamie for help on a life-and-death matter.
—Lincee Ray, EW.com, 18 Jan. 2025
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On vaccines, Democrats said Kennedy was flip-flopping on a life-and-death issue.
—Alexandra Hutzler, ABC News, 29 Jan. 2025
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On vaccines, Democrats said Kennedy was flip-flopping on a life-and-death issue.
—Alexandra Hutzler, ABC News, 29 Jan. 2025
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Three days later, in a second life-and-death crisis, the pope suffered a pair of acute bronchiospasms episodes.
—Colleen Barry, Chicago Tribune, 25 Mar. 2025
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Between the frigid cold and circling wolves below, the trio make life-and-death decisions to survive.
—Keith Langston, Peoplemag, 24 Nov. 2023
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Taveras said the bill has life-and-death consequences for children and drivers involved in school bus crashes.
—Thomas Goodwin Smith, Baltimore Sun, 14 Feb. 2024
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These are life-and-death stakes, sure, but watching Yen zip through the kitchen dispatching goon after goon telegraphs a chaotic joy, with roots in the Great Stone Face bits of the silent era.
—Jordan Crucchiola, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2024
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The dialogue is mostly terse; each sentence bears the weight of life-and-death implications.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2025
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These circumstances forced people to make life-and-death decisions: to serve the Germans or join the partisans.
—Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025
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What is certain, however, is that the Middle colonies and South Carolina were left with a life-and-death decision to make.
—Time, 3 July 2023
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Unaware of the life-and-death drama unfolding just feet from them, his parents were relaxing upstairs on the couch.
—Michael Collins, USA TODAY, 12 June 2023
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Then, the staff got to work picking the ones that best encapsulated the uncertainty and life-and-death feelings of that moment.
—Erik Ortiz, NBC News, 30 Aug. 2023
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That necessities come first makes sense: These items can make a life-and-death difference in moments of crisis.
—Ayurella Horn-Muller, The Atlantic, 30 Dec. 2023
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These include sustaining a crucial vow of silence plus life-and-death trials by fire and water.
—Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2023
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Drug discovery — that, of course, is very important, with life-and-death consequences.
—Steven Strogatz, Quanta Magazine, 7 Nov. 2024
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So in the ’80s, the death penalty was a place where the Supreme Court started making these orders that decided life-and-death situations for people on death row.
—Vox Staff, Vox, 5 June 2024
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And yet the bad boy has long been a trope of popular culture, particularly in a genre when the differences between bad and good are heightened to life-and-death stakes.
—Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 3 July 2024
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Energy reliability is a life-and-death issue in the heat of the summer.
—Russ Wiles, The Arizona Republic, 9 July 2024
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But in a war, deepfakes can be used to sow confusion with potentially life-and-death consequences.
—Vivienne Walt, Fortune, 4 Dec. 2023
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Quick life-and-death decisions sometimes must be made based on incomplete data, and current gen AI models are still too opaque.
—Frank Bajak, Fortune, 23 May 2024
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Relying on massive solar power systems for this life-and-death project could doom the entire endeavor, Zubrin tells me.
—Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2025
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The clashing of swords against one another adds suspense as beloved or infamous characters engage in life-and-death battles on screen.
—Marina Johnson, Detroit Free Press, 3 May 2023
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If the unthinkable became a horrifying reality, if a life-and-death teeter-totter or crushing financial pressure pushed them to the brink, the teen would shoulder the weight of the world.
—Bryce Millercolumnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Feb. 2023
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As time starts running out, emotions intensify, resulting in a love triangle with life-and-death stakes.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 19 Nov. 2024
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Game controllers have been used in life-and-death situations in combat, and likely will continue to be used in those scenarios for the foreseeable future.
—Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 22 June 2023
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Healthcare workers and anyone in any industry that deals with life-and-death situations have higher stressors in their daily jobs.
—Hanna Kang, Orange County Register, 20 Jan. 2024
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'life-and-death.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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