in at the death

noun

the act of dying; the end of life; the total and permanent cessation of all the vital functions of an organism. Compare brain death.

an instance of this: a death in the family; letters published after his death.

the state of being dead: to lie still in death.

extinction; destruction: It will mean the death of our hopes.

manner of dying: a hero's death.

(usually initial capital letter) the agent of death personified, usually represented as a man or a skeleton carrying a scythe. Compare Grim Reaper.

Also called spiritual death. loss or absence of spiritual life.

Christian Science. the false belief that life comes to an end.

bloodshed or murder: Hitler was responsible for the death of millions.

10.

a cause or occasion of death: You'll be the death of me yet!

11.

Archaic. pestilence; plague. Compare Black Death.

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Idioms

12.

at death's door, in serious danger of death; gravely ill: Two survivors of the crash are still at death's door.

13.

be death on, Informal.

to be excessively strict about: That publisher is death on sloppily typed manuscripts.

to be snobbish about or toward.

to be able to cope with easily and successfully: The third baseman is death on pop flies.

14.

do to death,

to kill, especially to murder.

to repeat too often, to the point of becoming monotonous and boring: That theme has been done to death.

15.

in at the death,

Fox Hunting. present at the kill.

present at the climax or conclusion of a situation.

16.

put to death, to kill; execute.

17.

to death, to an extreme degree; thoroughly: sick to death of the heat.

00:10

In at the death is always a great word to know.

So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

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Origin:
before 900; Middle English deeth, Old English dēath; cognate with German Tod, Gothic dauthus; akin to Old Norse deyja to die¹; see -th

Related forms

pre·death, noun

Can be confused: dearth, death.

Synonyms
1. decease, demise, passing, departure.

Antonyms
1. birth, life.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To in at the death

Collins

World English Dictionary

death (dɛθ)

—n
1.	the permanent end of all functions of life in an organism or some of its cellular components
2.	an instance of this: his death ended an era
3.	a murder or killing: he had five deaths on his conscience
4.	termination or destruction: the death of colonialism
5.	a state of affairs or an experience considered as terrible as death: your constant nagging will be the death of me
6.	a cause or source of death
7.	(usually capital) a personification of death, usually a skeleton or an old man holding a scythe
8.	a. to death, to the death until dead: bleed to death; a fight to the death
	b. to death excessively: bored to death
9.	at death's door likely to die soon
10.	informal catch one's death, catch one's death of cold to contract a severe cold
11.	do to death
	a. to kill
	b. to overuse (a joke, etc) so that it no longer has any effect
12.	in at the death
	a. present when an animal that is being hunted is caught and killed
	b. present at the finish or climax
13.	informal like death warmed up very ill
14.	like grim death as if afraid of one's life
15.	put to death to kill deliberately or execute

Related: fatal, lethal, mortal, necro-, thanato-

[Old English dēath; related to Old High German tōd death, Gothic dauthus]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

death

O.E. deað, from P.Gmc. *dauthaz, from verbal stem *dau- "die" + *-thuz suffix indicating "act, process, condition." Death's-head, a symbol of mortality, is from 1590s. Death row first recorded 1940s. Death knell is attested from 1814; death penalty from 1875; death rate from 1859. Slang be death

on "be very good at" is from 1839. Death wish first recorded 1896. The death-watch beetle (1660s) inhabits houses, makes a ticking noise like a watch, and is superstitiously supposed to portend death.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

death (děth)
n.
The end of life; the permanent cessation of vital bodily functions, as manifested in humans by the loss of heartbeat, the absence of spontaneous breathing, and brain death.

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

death

(děth) Pronunciation Key
The end of life of an organism or cell. In humans and animals, death is manifested by the permanent cessation of vital organic functions, including the absence of heartbeat, spontaneous breathing, and brain activity. Cells die as a result of external injury or by an orderly, programmed series of self-destructive events known as apoptosis. The most common causes of death for humans in well-developed countries are cardiovascular disease, cancer, alzheimer's disease, certain chronic diseases such as diabetes and emphysema, lung infections, and accidents. See also brain death.

Easton

Bible Dictionary

Death definition

may be simply defined as the termination of life. It is represented under a variety of aspects in Scripture: (1.) "The dust shall return to the earth as it was" (Eccl. 12:7). (2.) "Thou takest away their breath, they die" (Ps. 104:29). (3.) It is the dissolution of "our earthly house of this tabernacle" (2 Cor. 5:1); the "putting off this tabernacle" (2 Pet. 1:13, 14). (4.) Being "unclothed" (2 Cor. 5:3, 4). (5.) "Falling on sleep" (Ps. 76:5; Jer. 51:39; Acts 13:36; 2 Pet. 3:9. (6.) "I go whence I shall not return" (Job 10:21); "Make me to know mine end" (Ps. 39:4); "to depart" (Phil. 1:23). The grave is represented as "the gates of death" (Job 38:17; Ps. 9:13; 107:18). The gloomy silence of the grave is spoken of under the figure of the "shadow of death" (Jer. 2:6). Death is the effect of sin (Heb. 2:14), and not a "debt of nature." It is but once (9:27), universal (Gen. 3:19), necessary (Luke 2:28-30). Jesus has by his own death taken away its sting for all his followers (1 Cor. 15:55-57). There is a spiritual death in trespasses and sins, i.e., the death of the soul under the power of sin (Rom. 8:6; Eph. 2:1, 3; Col. 2:13). The "second death" (Rev. 2:11) is the everlasting perdition of the wicked (Rev. 21:8), and "second" in respect to natural or temporal death. THE DEATH OF CHRIST is the procuring cause incidentally of all the blessings men enjoy on earth. But specially it is the procuring cause of the actual salvation of all his people, together with all the means that lead thereto. It does not make their salvation merely possible, but certain (Matt. 18:11; Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 1:4; 3:13; Eph. 1:7; 2:16; Rom. 8:32-35).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

in at the death

Also, in at the finish or kill. Involved in or present at the end, especially a disastrous end but sometimes merely the climax of an important event. For example, He had a hand in their breakup, but he didn't want to be in at the death, or They've done really well this year, and we want to be in at the kill. These expressions originally alluded to hunters and hounds being present at the death of a fox they had run to ground. [First half of 1700s]

Matching Quote

"The age of the world is great enough for our imaginations, even according to the Mosaic account, without borrowing any years from the geologist. From Adam and Eve at one leap sheer down to the deluge, and then through the ancient monarchies, through Babylon and Thebes, Brahma and Abraham, to Greece and the Argonauts; whence we might start again with Orpheus, and the Trojan war, the Pyramids and the Olympic games, and Homer and Athens, for our stages; and after a breathing space at the building of Rome, continue our journey down through Odin and Christ to—MAmerica. It is a wearisome while. And yet the lives of but sixty old women, such as live under the hill, say of a century each, strung together, are sufficient to reach over the whole ground. Taking hold of hands they would span the interval from Eve to my own mother. A respectable tea-party merely,—whose gossip would be Universal History. The fourth old woman from myself suckled Columbus,—the ninth was nurse to the Norman Conqueror,—the nineteenth was the Virgin Mary—the twenty-fourth was the Cumæan Sibyl,—the thirtieth was at the Trojan war and Helen her name,—the thirty-eighth was Queen Semiramis,—the sixtieth was Eve, the mother of mankind. So much for the
"Old woman that lives under the hill,
And if she's not gone she lives there still."
It will not take a very great-granddaughter of hers to be in at the death of Time."

-Henry David Thoreau

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