Die

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.

3. That which is, or might be, determined, by a throw of the die; hazard; chance.

Such is the die of war.

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.

She will die from want of care.

2. To suffer death; to lose life.

In due time Christ died for the ungodly.

3. To perish in any manner; to cease; to become lost or extinct; to be extinguished.

Letting the secret die within his own breast.

Great deeds can not die.

4. To sink; to faint; to pine; to languish, with weakness, discouragement, love, etc.

His heart died within, and he became as a stone.

The young men acknowledged, in love letters, that they died for Rebecca.

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.

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."

-- To die out, to cease gradually; as, the prejudice has died out.

Syn. -- To expire; decease; perish; depart; vanish.