Idiom
catch one's death
Meaning
To contract a serious illness, especially a nasty cold or other respiratory ailment and especially as a result of exposure to wet or chilly weather.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Put on your coat or you will catch your death.”
“If you walk home in this freezing rain without an umbrella, you are going to catch your death.”
“The elderly man ignored his daughter's pleas to stay indoors, insisting that he would not catch his death simply by walking in the autumn mist.”
Examples
simple
“Put on your coat or you will catch your death.”
contextual
“If you walk home in this freezing rain without an umbrella, you are going to catch your death.”
complex
“The elderly man ignored his daughter's pleas to stay indoors, insisting that he would not catch his death simply by walking in the autumn mist.”
Key words
Related idioms
- Updated