variants
also life-or-death
as in crucial
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of life-and-death
The drumline loops and VST strings would be over-the-top if the performance weren’t so impassioned, the stakes not literally life-and-death.
—
Hannah Jocelyn, Pitchfork, 30 Mar. 2026
Certainly not the life-and-death stakes.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 20 Mar. 2026
The stakes of slow action on pedestrian and cyclist safety are life-and-death.
—Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 16 Mar. 2026
The life-and-death situation motivated Phillips to take to social media for help, with the encouragement of her famous friends and family, like sister Mackenzie Phillips and long term friends Nicky and Paris Hilton.
—Isabel Yip, NBC news, 1 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for life-and-death
Hannah Jocelyn, Pitchfork, 30 Mar. 2026
Certainly not the life-and-death stakes.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 20 Mar. 2026
The stakes of slow action on pedestrian and cyclist safety are life-and-death.
—Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 16 Mar. 2026
The life-and-death situation motivated Phillips to take to social media for help, with the encouragement of her famous friends and family, like sister Mackenzie Phillips and long term friends Nicky and Paris Hilton.
—Isabel Yip, NBC news, 1 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for life-and-death
Recent Examples of Synonyms for life-and-death
Adjective
-
The comments come amid growing concerns that the threat of mines in the key waterway, as well as the standoff between the two navies, will leave the crucial trade route effectively blocked for some time.—
Sean Nevin,
NBC news,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The focus now is on the crucial first test flight of its third version of the Starship rocket, whose launch was already pushed back a month to May.—
Thomas Black,
Mercury News,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Enforcement must be swift and decisive in removing fraudulent operators.—
Tom Koutsoumpas,
Oc Register,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The same official also indicated that Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, is not necessarily the decisive factor in these discussions, but Nabih Berri, speaker of the nation's House, is the one with true authority, not Aoun.—
Efrat Lachter,
FOXNews.com,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The two share mechanical underpinnings, including their powertrains and most fundamental off-road hardware.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
22 Apr. 2026
-
This breakthrough provides a practical toolkit for directly probing quantum electrodynamics and observing the fundamental, extreme interactions between light and the quantum vacuum.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
22 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The teamwork and professionalism shown by the officers today are a testament to their training in de-escalation, crisis intervention, and critical decision-making.—
Staff Report,
Hartford Courant,
21 Apr. 2026
-
But for Ternus, perhaps the most critical aspect of his new job will be pushing the company deeper into AI, where it's lagged many of its megacap peers.—
Jennifer Elias,
CNBC,
21 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Shojaei was a key cog in the movement to overturn that ban, which was partially achieved for national team matches in 2023.—
Jacob Whitehead,
New York Times,
21 Apr. 2026
-
Kelly says multifunctional furniture is key for relaxed entertaining, and this table is a great example.—
Toni Sutton,
PEOPLE,
21 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
When citizens insist on shaping the basic terms of social life by appealing to premises that others cannot reasonably be expected to accept—revelation, doctrines of transcendence, private moral visions—the result is not a purer politics but a dangerously brittle one.—
Nikhil Krishnan,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Entrants had to meet some basic criteria, including either being fully autonomous (making their own decisions using AI and sensors) or remotely controlled (piloted by a human), with the competition putting an emphasis on the former over raw speed.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
19 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The guard’s late-game work on the offensive glass and defensive contributions were pivotal for Boston.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
25 Apr. 2026
-
The April 7 announcement by Anthropic — that its new Mythos model was far more powerful and thus far more dangerous than any previous AI tool — increasingly appears to be a pivotal moment in human history.—
U T Editorial Board,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Life-and-death.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/life-and-death. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
