Idiom
breathe one's last
Meaning
To die.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The old dog breathed his last this morning.”
“The king was surrounded by his family when he finally breathed his last.”
“After a long and difficult struggle against his illness, the poet breathed his last in the quiet comfort of his home.”
Examples
simple
“The old dog breathed his last this morning.”
contextual
“The king was surrounded by his family when he finally breathed his last.”
complex
“After a long and difficult struggle against his illness, the poet breathed his last in the quiet comfort of his home.”
Origin
Perhaps first used in Shakespeare's Henry VI, part 3 (c. 1591). Compare breathe (“to live”).
Key words
Related idioms
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