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sudden death
noun
1
: unexpected death that is instantaneous or occurs within minutes from any cause other than violence
sudden death following coronary occlusion
2
: extra play to break a tie in a sports contest in which the first to score or gain the lead wins
Examples of sudden death in a Sentence
We won 27–24 in sudden death.
a serious heart condition that can result in sudden death
Recent Examples on the Web
Christine Brown is paying tribute to Garrison Brown two days after his sudden death.
—Stephanie Wenger, Peoplemag, 8 Mar. 2024
McConnell led the successful effort to keep Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's seat vacant after his sudden death in January 2016, denying President Obama's appointee Merrick Garland a single hearing.
—Susan Davis, NPR, 28 Feb. 2024
Years later, Mitchel’s granddaughter was hospitalized after cardiac arrest and diagnosed with long QT syndrome, an abnormality of the heart’s electrical system that can lead to life-threatening arrhythmia and sudden death.
—Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Feb. 2024
Navalny had been one such individual before his sudden death at a Siberian penal colony.
—Lauren Said-Moorhouse, CNN, 16 Feb. 2024
The legal action came little more than two weeks after the sudden death of his wife Melinda, who had been his primary caregiver.
—Michael Peregrine, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
In the first playoff game with the NFL’s new overtime rule — each team gets a possession before the game becomes sudden death — the Chiefs lost the OT coin-toss during Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers.
—Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 12 Feb. 2024
Then, the game DOES become sudden death — so there's a clear potential edge in having the ball third.
—Noah Trister, USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2024
The flurry of legal actions come as the United States looks for ways to respond to Putin over the sudden death last week of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison colony.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 23 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sudden death.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of sudden death was
in the 14th century
Articles Related to sudden death
Dictionary Entries Near sudden death
Cite this Entry
“Sudden death.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sudden%20death. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.
Kids Definition
sudden death
noun
: extra play to break a tie in a sports contest in which the first to score or gain the lead wins
Medical Definition
sudden death
noun
: unexpected death that is instantaneous or occurs within minutes or hours from any cause other than violence
sudden death following coronary occlusion
especially
: sudden cardiac death
More from Merriam-Webster on sudden death
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for sudden death
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