Definition and meaning of die

DieDie (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Died (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dying.] [OE. deyen, dien, of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. deyja; akin to Dan. döe, Sw. dö, Goth. diwan (cf. Goth. afd�jan to harass), OFries. d�ia to kill, OS. doian to die, OHG. touwen, OSlav. daviti to choke, Lith. dovyti to torment. Cf. Dead, Death.]
1. To pass from an animate to a lifeless state; to cease to live; to suffer a total and irreparable loss of action of the vital functions; to become dead; to expire; to perish; -- said of animals and vegetables; often with of, by, with, from, and rarely for, before the cause or occasion of death; as, to die of disease or hardships; to die by fire or the sword; to die with horror at the thought.

To die by the roadside of grief and hunger. Macaulay.

She will die from want of care. Tennyson.

2. To suffer death; to lose life.

In due time Christ died for the ungodly. Rom. v. 6.

3. To perish in any manner; to cease; to become lost or extinct; to be extinguished.

Letting the secret die within his own breast. Spectator.

Great deeds can not die. Tennyson.

4. To sink; to faint; to pine; to languish, with weakness, discouragement, love, etc.

His heart died within, and he became as a stone. 1 Sam. xxv. 37.

The young men acknowledged, in love letters, that they died for Rebecca. Tatler.

5. To become indifferent; to cease to be subject; as, to die to pleasure or to sin.

6. To recede and grow fainter; to become imperceptible; to vanish; -- often with out or away.

Blemishes may die away and disappear amidst the brightness. Spectator.

7. (Arch.) To disappear gradually in another surface, as where moldings are lost in a sloped or curved face.

8. To become vapid, flat, or spiritless, as liquor.

To die in the last ditch, to fight till death; to die rather than surrender.
“There is one certain way,” replied the Prince [William of Orange] “ by which I can be sure never to see my country's ruin, -- I will die in the last ditch.” Hume (Hist. of Eng. ).-- To die out, to cease gradually; as, the prejudice has died out.

Syn. -- To expire; decease; perish; depart; vanish.

DieDie, n.; pl. in 1 and (usually) in 2, Dice (dīs); in 4 & 5, Dies (dīz). [OE. dee, die, F. dé, fr. L. datus given, thrown, p. p. of dare to give, throw. See Date a point of time.]
1. A small cube, marked on its faces with spots from one to six, and used in playing games by being shaken in a box and thrown from it. See Dice.

2. Any small cubical or square body.

Words . . . pasted upon little flat tablets or dies. Watts.

3. That which is, or might be, determined, by a throw of the die; hazard; chance.

Such is the die of war. Spenser.

4. (Arch.) That part of a pedestal included between base and cornice; the dado.

5. (Mach.) (a) A metal or plate (often one of a pair) so cut or shaped as to give a certain desired form to, or impress any desired device on, an object or surface, by pressure or by a blow; used in forging metals, coining, striking up sheet metal, etc. (b) A perforated block, commonly of hardened steel used in connection with a punch, for punching holes, as through plates, or blanks from plates, or for forming cups or capsules, as from sheet metal, by drawing. (c) A hollow internally threaded screw-cutting tool, made in one piece or composed of several parts, for forming screw threads on bolts, etc.; one of the separate parts which make up such a tool.

Cutting die (Mech.), a thin, deep steel frame, sharpened to a cutting edge, for cutting out articles from leather, cloth, paper, etc. -- The die is cast, the hazard must be run; the step is taken, and it is too late to draw back; the last chance is taken.