Die , 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.
Die (?), 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.
Hear it pronounced