sudden death

noun

Definition of sudden deathnext
as in dead heat

Related Words

Relevance

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 sudden death The effort to penalize top Russian figures and the biggest buyers of Russian oil over the war in Ukraine gained fresh momentum after Graham's sudden death in July. — Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 17 Sep. 2026 The bill's passage comes about two months after Graham's sudden death. — Lauren Peller, ABC News, 16 Sep. 2026 The dark comedy from director Kris Rey produced by Jurassic World filmmaker Colin Trevorrow follows a young gay man living in Chicago who returns to his hometown in Missouri following the sudden death of his hoarder father. — Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2026 Late summer brings an increase in a deadly disease spreading in cats across South Florida, causing intense illness and even sudden death. — Amaia Gavica, Miami Herald, 3 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for sudden death
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sudden death
  1. dead heat
  2. runoff
  3. rubber
  4. round-robin
  5. volley
Noun
  • For the first time in the history of photo finishes a triple dead heat for first place is recorded, at Willow’s Park, Victoria, British Columbia.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Even so, poll results point to a statistical dead heat between Flávio Bolsonaro and Lula.
    — Filipe Mendonça, The Conversation, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of dead heat
Noun
  • In the race to replace Councilmember Bob Blumenfield in the west San Fernando Valley, business owner Tim Gaspar had collected $265,000 for the runoff campaign, compared with nearly $101,000 for political aide Barri Worth Girvan.
    — David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Additionally, the project’s closed-loop water system prevents nutrients from washing into nearby rivers, where runoff from conventional cotton production can contribute to eutrophication.
    — Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of runoff
Noun
  • After all, at one point no one knew rubber would have such wide use in vehicles that undeniably changed the world.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Bright, beautiful neoprene mats accommodate four players, are easy to clean and feature a rubber nonslip backing.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of rubber
Noun
  • The Australian academic competed in breaking’s Olympic debut and went winless across her three round-robin matchups.
    — Nasha Smith, PEOPLE, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The rebuilt Pac-12, which will feature eight teams playing a round-robin followed by a flex game to close the regular season, might have the best shot at the G6’s CFP spot.
    — Chris Vannini, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of round-robin
Noun
  • If access to divorce has removed the net from our tennis game, for the one percent, the proceedings have turned into Sincaraz-level volleys.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Paul Marie flicked a ball off the outside of his foot to Judd, who scored on a volley from the edge of the 6-yard box to give the Earthquakes a 3-0 lead in the 29th.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of volley

Browse Nearby Words

sudden
sudden death
sudden deaths
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sudden death.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sudden%20death. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All