dear
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dear4 adv cost someone dear to result in a lot of suffering and trouble: Her decision to marry him cost her dear.
Dear Ab-by /ˌdɪər æbi/ trademark a US newspaper COLUMN, originally written by Abigail Van Buren, and after her death by her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, which prints letters from readers asking for advice and her answers to these letters → see also AGONY AUNT, Ann LANDERS
dear-est /ˈdɪərɪst/ n often pomp (used for speaking to someone) a much-loved person: The flowers are for you, (my) dearest. → see also nearest and dearest (NEAR1)
dear-ie /ˈdɪəri/ n DEARY
Dear 'John ,letter n a letter to a man from his wife or girlfriend which tells him that she no longer loves him
dear-ly /ˈdɪəli||ˈdɪrli/ adv 1 with strong feeling, especially of love: I would dearly love to go back to Scotland. | He loves his wife dearly. 2 at a terrible cost in time, effort, pain etc: He paid dearly for his mistake. 3 dearly beloved dear people; used by a priest talking to his CONGREGATION: Dearly beloved, we have come together in the sight of God ...
dearth /dɜːθ||dɜːrθ/ n [S+of] fml a lack (of); SHORTAGE
dear-y, dearie /ˈdɪəri/ n old-fash infml (used when speaking to someone) DEAR
death /deθ/ n 1 [C;U] the end of life; time or manner of dying: He remained in good health right up to his death. | His mother's sudden death was a great shock to him. | Drunken driving causes thousands of deaths every year. | Did she die a natural death, or was she murdered? | The judge sentenced him to death by hanging. → compare BIRTH; see also DECEASE, DEMISE 2 [U] the state of being dead: as still/cold as death | Hundreds of animals were burned to death in the forest fire. → compare LIFE 3 [C(ø)] the cause of loss of life (often in the phrase be the death of): Drinking will be the death of him. | If you go out without a coat, you'll catch your death of cold. → see also DEADLY1 4 [S,U] destruction or disappearance: a defeat that meant the death of all my hopes | Death to imperialism! 5 [U] (usually cap.) the destroyer of life, usually represented as a SKELETON: a picture of Death wearing a black cloak and holding a sickle 6 at death's door especially humor very ill, and likely to die: Anyone would think he was at death's door, the way he's complaining, but he's only got a bit of a cold! 7 like death warmed up BrE || like death warmed over AmE — infml very ill or tired: Ever since I caught this cold, I've been feeling like death warmed up. 8 in at the death present at the death of a hunted animal or at the defeat of a person, plan etc 9 nothing is certain but death and taxes quote a slightly changed phrase from a piece of writing by Benjamin Franklin 10 put to death to kill, especially with official permission: The prisoners were all put to death. 11 till death us do part BrE || till death do us part AmE quote a phrase from the Christian marriage service. The two people getting married promise that they will stay together and love each other 'till death us do part' (=until one of them dies). 12 to death beyond all acceptable limits: I am sick to death of their complaints. | Your mother will be worried to death about you. → see also KISS OF DEATH, do to death (DO2)
CULTURAL NOTE Many people in the US and the UK feel uncomfortable talking about death, and when someone has died, people sometimes say that they have 'passed away' or 'passed on' to avoid mentioning death directly. People also say that someone is 'gone' or 'no longer with us' to mean that they have died. Humorous phrases meaning 'to die' include: 'kick the bucket', 'croak' (esp. AmE), and 'pop your clogs' (BrE), but it can be considered very offensive in certain situations to use these expressions. When someone dies, people send cards and letters to their family, and flowers for the grave, or give money to a CHARITY in memory of the person who has died. → see Cultural Note at FUNERAL
death-bed /'deθbed/ n [C usually sing.] the bed on which someone dies: He forgave them on his deathbed. | a death-bed repentance/conversion
death-blow /'deθbləʊ/ n [C usually sing.] an act or event that destroys or ends: His refusal to help us dealt a deathblow to our plans.
'death camp n a CONCENTRATION CAMP especially one of the German camps of World War II
'death cer,tificate n a legal document signed by a doctor stating the fact and usually the cause of someone's death. In Britain and the US a person may not be legally buried without a death certificate.
'death-de,fying adj [A] a death-defying action is very dangerous: death-defying film stunts
'death ,duties BrE || 'death tax AmE — n [P] money that had to be paid to a government as a tax on property that had been left to a person when the original owner had died. This tax is now called INHERITANCE TAX and sometimes also ESTATE TAX in the US.
Death in 'Venice (1912) a novel by Thomas MANN, which was made into a film in 1971, about a successful writer in Venice who falls in love with a beautiful Polish boy and therefore does not want to leave the city, even though there is CHOLERA there. He stays, and finally dies from the disease. The film is also remembered for its beautiful, sad music, by Gustav MAHLER.
death-less /'deθləs/ adj unforgettable; IMMORTAL (used jokingly about things which are exactly the opposite): the Inland Revenue's usual deathless prose →-ly adv
death-like /'deθlaɪk/ adj like death or like that of death: a deathlike paleness/silence
death-ly /'deθli/ adj, adv like death: a deathly silence
'death mask n a copy of a dead person's face made by pressing a soft material (e.g. PLASTER OF PARIS) over the face
Death of a 'Salesman (1949) a play by Arthur MILLER about a man called Willy Loman, who kills himself because he has lost his job and feels that he has failed
'death ,penalty also 'death ,sentence [the] punishment by death → see Cultural Note at CAPITAL PUNISHMENT and see Feature on page A23
'death rate n the number of deaths for every 100 or 1000 people in a particular year in a particular place → compare BIRTHRATE
'death ,rattle n an unusual noise sometimes heard from the throat of a dying person
death row /ˌdeθ ˈrəʊ/ n [U] especially AmE the part of a prison in which those prisoners are kept who will be punished by death: convicted murderers waiting on death row
'death's-head n a human SKULL representing death
'death squad n [C+sing./pl.v] a group of people who travel around killing political opponents, often acting on the orders of a political party. Death squads are usually thought of as working in countries where DEMOCRACY does not exist or is not very strong.
'death toll n the number of people who died in a particular way or because of a particular event: The death toll from the earthquake is approaching two hundred.
'death trap n infml something very dangerous to life: That old boat is a real death trap.
Death 'Valley an area of desert in the US states of Nevada and California. It is one of the hottest places in the world, and many people died trying to cross it in the 19th century.
'death ,warrant n a written official order to kill (EXECUTE) someone
death-watch bee-tle /'deθwɒtʃ ˌbiːtl-wɒtʃ-, -wɒːtʃ-/ n an insect that causes serious damage to old buildings by digging into the wood
'death wish n [S] a conscious or unconscious desire for death
Deay-ton, Angus /'di:tɒn/ (1956–) a British television PRESENTER and actor, known especially for his clever sense of humour. He was the HOST of the QUIZ programme Have I Got News For You from 1990 to 2002.
deb /deb/ n infml for DEBUTANTE
de-ba-cle, also dé.bâcle AmE /deɪ'bɑ:kəl, dɪ-/ n a badly organized event which is a complete failure: Our high school sports day was a complete débâcle.
de-bar /dɪ'bɑ:r/ v
debar sbdy. from sthg. phr v -rr- [T+obj/v-ing] to officially prevent from: Until recently, people who did not own property were debarred from jury service/from serving on juries in Britain. → compare DISBAR