death rattle

Definitions

1. 1

   The raspy or gurgling sound sometimes made by a person while drawing in or expelling…

   The raspy or gurgling sound sometimes made by a person while drawing in or expelling their final breaths before dying.

   • The death-rattle gurgled in the throat of his opponent; his arms fell heavily to his side.
   • George Martin had died as though in his sleep, so quietly that no one had even guessed. And what Peter had imagined to be his snores had really been the lonesome death rattle.
   • And so this killer—loath to touch a living body—was helpless. He could only wait for an old man's death rattle.
2. 2

   Activity by an entity (such as an individual, business or ideology) perceived as almost…

   Activity by an entity (such as an individual, business or ideology) perceived as almost finished, especially if this activity appears weak or futile.

   • Instead, after this introductory essay, my story begins with the death rattle of the American communist movement and the birth of the New Left.
   • These were the dying days of the Callaghan administration, its soundtrack the death-rattle of the post-war consensus with its basis in Keynesian economics.
3. 3

   The sound of a batsman’s stumps being broken, so called because this leads to the…

   The sound of a batsman’s stumps being broken, so called because this leads to the batsman’s dismissal.

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