death’s door, at/near 💀🚪
Death’s door, at/near – Moribund, dangerously ill. Presumably, this metaphor originated in the idea that death was a state of being one could enter, that is, an afterlife. It was used by Miles Coverdale (an early translator of the Bible) in A Spyrytuall Pearle (1550): “To bring unto death’s door,” and was repeated by Shakespeare and eventually, in more secular context, by later writers. Eric Partridge deemed it a cliché by about 1850.
Similar Terms & Expressions:
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Knocking on Heaven’s door: Standing close to death or misfortune.
- 📜 “He’s knocking on Heaven’s Door and he doesn’t even realize it.”
- 🎶 “Knock, knock, knocking on Heaven’s door,” – Bob Dylan
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One foot in the grave: Very old or ill, near death.
- ✍ “He’s got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.” Humorously bleak but oh so indicative!
Related Proverbs:
- “To live is to suffer; to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Synonyms:
- On the brink of death
- At death’s doorstep
- On their last legs
Antonyms:
- Alive and kicking
- Full of life
- In the pink of health
Inspirational Quotes:
- “Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” – Dylan Thomas
Literary References:
- “Measure for Measure” by William Shakespeare: Pebbling pages with profound prose, Shakespeare painted cited moribund realities like a true maestro.
- “The Chronicles of Peter Rawncliffe” by L. F. Baudling IV (fictional example): Death dances around the protagonists like an ominous waltz, symbolizing a near death-like experience metaphorically referred to as “knocked and denied by Death’s Door.”
“Everyone dies eventually, but only those who truly live can say they stared at death’s door and walked away with a story.” – Lifey Lingo
Published by Lifey Lingo in October 2023.
Farewell thought: Life, like a door, offers entrances and exits. As you pass through its moments, make them matter — so when you’re at death’s door, you can look back and smile.
