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What does clung on for dear life mean?
What does it mean if someone does something for dear life?
Is for dear life an idiom?
What is dear life about?
Apr 20, 2024 · The meaning of FOR DEAR LIFE is very tightly or quickly because of fear or danger. How to use for dear life in a sentence.
If you do something for dear life, you do it with as much effort as possible, usually to avoid danger: As the ship began to tilt, we clung on for dear life. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Linguistics: intensifying expressions. annoy, frighten, scare, etc. the hell out of someone idiom. anything.
May 12, 2014 · 3 Answers. Sorted by: The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms dates for dear life to the mid-1800s, although that appears to be too late by a wide margin, as I find a use from an 1815 stage play with unquestionably the same meaning as today:
- The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms dates for dear life to the mid-1800s , although that appears to be too late by a wide margin, as I...
- A Google Books search turns up instances of the phrase going back to 1749. Interestingly, though the first occurrence is in a polemical discourse a...
- Life every man holds dear; but the dear man holds honor far more precious dear than life. —Shakespeare (Troilus and Cressida 1602?)
Learn the meaning and usage of the phrase \"for dear life\", which means desperately or urgently, as if one's life depends on it. See examples, synonyms, related expressions and sources from various dictionaries.
Learn the meaning of for dear life, a phrase used to describe doing something as fast or as well as you can because you are afraid. See examples from the corpus and alternative expressions.
3 days ago · Learn the meaning and usage of the phrase \"for one's life/for dear life\", which means doing something with all one's strength and effort in a dangerous or urgent situation. See examples, pronunciation and related words.
When you do something for dear life, you do it as though not doing it would cause you to die. If a kayaker sees a shark in the water, she'll probably start paddling for dear life . In some cases, people do things for dear life that really are death-defying: a window cleaner who slips off his scaffolding at the top of a skyscraper will hold onto ...
