Genocide
To completely exterminate all of a kind
Formal
Give up the ghost
To die
Neutral
Soul leaving the body
Glue factory
To die
Neutral
Usually refers to a horse
Gone to a better place
To die
Euphemistic
Heaven
Go over the Big Ridge
To die
Unknown
Go bung
To die
Informal
Australian. Can =fail, go bankrupt
Go for a Burton
To die / break irreparably
Informal
Brit WWII ad (Gone for a Burton)
Go to Davy Jones's locker
To drown or die at sea otherwise
Euphemistic
Peregrine Pickle describes Davy Jones as'the fiend that presides over all the evil spirits of the deep
Go to the big [place] in the sky
To die and go to heaven
Informal
Place in the afterlife paralleling deceased's life eg Big ranch in sky
Go home in a box
To be shipped to one's birthplace, dead
Slang, euphemistic
Go out with one's boots on/with a bang/in style
To die while doing something enjoyed
Informal
Go to/head for the last round up
To die
Euphemistic
Associated with dying cowboys. Cf Going to that big ranch in the sky
Go to one's reward
To die
Euphemistic
Final reckoning, just desserts after death
Go to one's watery grave
To die of drowning
Literary
Go to a Texas cakewalk
To be hanged
Unknown
Go the way of all flesh
To die
Neutral
Go west
To be killed or lost
Informal
Refers to the sun setting
The Grim Reaper
Personification of death
Cultural
Skeleton with scythe, often cloaked
Hand in one's dinner pail
To die
Informal
No longer required at workmen's canteen
Happy hunting ground
Dead
Informal
Used to describe the afterlife according to Native Americans
Hara-kiri
(Ritual) suicide disembowelment
Japanese
See Seppuku. Often misspelt as Hari-kari.
Have one foot in the grave
To be close to death because of illness or age
Informal, sometimes humorous
Hop on the last rattler
To die
Euphemistic
"Rattler" is a slang expression for a freight train.
Hop the twig
To die
Informal
Also 'to hop the stick'. Pagan belief that to jump a stick on the ground leads to the Afterworld.
In Abraham's bosom
In heaven
Neutral
Cf Luke 16:22
Join the choir invisible
To die
Neutral
George Eliot poem 1867
Join the great majority
To die
Euphemistic
First used Edward Young but the phrase 'the majority' is extremely old
Justifiable Homicide
Homicide
Formal
Murder of lesser culpability attracting a lighter penalty
Kick the bucket
To die
Informal
Suicidal hanging Also 'kick off' (US)
Kick the calendar
To die
Slang, informal
Polish saying. 'Calendar' implies somebody's time of death (kicking at particular moment of time)
Killed In Action (KIA)
Death of military personnel due to enemy action
Military language, official and informal use
King of Terrors
Personification of death
Neutral
Also refers to death itself
Kiss one's arse goodbye
Prepare to die
Slang
Live on a farm (upstate)
To die
Euphemism
Usually referring to death of pet, esp parents to children The dog went to live on a farm
Lose one's life
To die in an accident or violent event
Neutral
Make the ultimate sacrifice
To die fighting for a cause
Formal
'make the supreme sacrifice'
Matricide
Mother murdered
Formal
Meet one's maker
To die
Euphemistic
According to Christian belief, soul meets God for final judgement
Murder Death Kill (MDK)
Homicide
TV/Movie
From 1993 film Demolition Man
Night
The state of death
Euphemism
From the Dylan Thomas poem Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Not long for this world
Will die soon; have little time left to live
Old-fashioned
Not with us any more
Dead
Euphemistic
Off on a boat
To die
Euphemistic
Viking expression, in fashion nowadays
Off the hooks
Dead
Informal
Brit Do not confuse with off the hook
On one's deathbed
Dying
Neutral
On one's last legs
About to die
Informal
One's hour has come
About to die
Literary
One's number is up
One is going to die
Slang
Pass away
To die
Euphemism; Polite
Also 'to pass on'
Pass in one's alley
To die
Informal
Australian
Patricide
Murders father
Formal
Pay the ultimate price
Die for a cause or principle
Neutral
Cf "To make the ultimate sacrifice"
Peg out
To die
Slang
British. Also means 'to stop working'
Pop one's clogs
To die
Humorous, Informal
Brit. "Pop"English slang for pawn. A C19th workman might tell his family to take his clothes to the pawn shop to pay for his funeral, his clogs being among the most valuable items
Promoted to Glory
Death of a Salvationist
Formal
Salvation Army terminology
Push up daisies
To have died and be under the ground
Humorous, Euphemistic
Early C20th. Also under the daisies and turn one's toes up to the daisies which date back to the Cmid-19th. Cf to turn up one's toes below.
Put down/put to sleep
To be euthanised
Euphemism
Euthanasia of an animal
Put one to the sword
To kill someone
Literary
Rainbow Bridge
Dead
Euphemism
Usually referring to death of a pet, ie "Crossing the Rainbow Bridge."
Ride the pale horse
To die
Euphemistic
Rev 6:8, a pale horse ridden by Death is one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Expression Behold a pale horse is the title of 1964 Fred Zinnemann film & 1991 book by ufologist William Milton Cooper
Send one to Eternity or to the Promised Land
To kill someone
Literary
Send (or go) to the farm
To die
Euphemism
Usually ref to death of a pet, esp if the owners are parents of young children ie The dog was sent to a farm
Shade
The state of death
Euphemism
From poem, "Invictus," by William Ernest Henley: Beyond this place of wrath and tears, Looms but the horror of the shade
Shuffle off this mortal coil
To die
Humorous, Literary
Cf Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Six feet under
Dead
Informal
6' is the trad depth of a grave
Sleeping with the fishes
Murdered, then disposed of in water.
Slang
Popularised by The Godfather
Snuffed out
Murdered
Literary
As in extinguishing a candle, or simply "snuff it"
Step off
To die
Informal, euphemistic
Character Ron Birdwell in The Late Show (1977) I'm always sorry to hear any of God's creatures stepping off
Struck down
To be killed by an illness
Neutral
Usually passive
Suicide
To take one's own life
Formal
Swim with concrete shoes
Gangster murder
Slang
Take a dirt nap
To die and be buried
Slang
Take a last bow
To die
Slang
Take the last train to glory
To die
Euphemism
Uplifting Christian take on destination heaven
Tango Uniform
Dead, irreversibly broken
Military slang
This is "T.U." in the ICAO spelling alphabet, an abbreviation for Tits Up (aeroplane crashed)
Terminate; esp Terminate with Extreme Prejudice
To kill; esp when carrying out an assassination as part of covert operation
Euphemism; Military slang
Orig during Vietnam War; later popularised by film Apocalypse Now
Top yourself
Commit suicide
Slang
Turn up one's toes
To die
Slang
Alternative to turn one's toes up to the daisies (See push up daisies)
Up and die
Unexpected death, leaving loose ends
Euphemistic
Wearing a pine overcoat (ie a wooden coffin)
Dead
Slang
Idiom of US gangsters C 20th
Wiped out ... way up ....
Dead, usually multiple individuals
Neutral
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