“Cheat death” is an idiom used to describe avoiding death in situations where it seems inevitable. It can refer to recovering from a terminal illness, surviving a life-threatening injury, or narrowly avoiding a fatal accident. The origin of the phrase is speculated to be related to the Grim Reaper. It can also be used sarcastically to emphasize the danger of a situation.
The phrase “cheat death” is an idiom in the English language. Death cheating means avoiding death even when death seems very likely or inevitable in the current situation. It is also used when someone has entirely avoided a terrible accident or situation which would most likely have been fatal to that person had they been involved.
One would be said to have cheated death if he had recovered from a terminal illness or life-threatening injury, survived a fall from a great height, or survived some other situation in which death was almost certain. Even if the individual was not in a life threatening situation but barely avoided one, it can be said that he was able to cheat death. For example, if a passenger plane crashes, the passenger who stayed home and missed the flight due to stomach flu has cheated death.
There are several interpretations of this idiom and speculation about its origin in popular culture. A notable example includes the famous situation where an individual is able to cheat at a game, usually chess or another board game, with the Grim Reaper, sometimes referred to as “Death”, to win back his life and otherwise escape inevitable death. Another possible interpretation of the origin of this idiom is again in reference to the Grim Reaper. In this case, the Grim Reaper is coming for a person at the time of his death, but instead that individual closely avoids dying. This “cheats death” from its intended prize.
While it is technically incorrect to use this idiom to describe an individual who has not escaped death, the phrase is sometimes used to emphasize the danger of a situation. This can occur with or without the use of sarcasm or other situations where the speaker’s words are not to be taken literally. For example, an individual living in a large, densely populated city might sarcastically exclaim that he was able to cheat death by successfully making his way home through rush hour traffic. In this case, the interpretation should not be literal in the sense that the individual is probably not nearly dead, but instead as a way of emphasizing how dangerous or threatening their surroundings seemed to that person.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
