Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

on death's doorstep

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.75 in modern English

Syllables: on death's -doorstep
IPA

23

Scrabble Score

16

Letters

2

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

phrase

Example Sentences

"By the time she decided to seek help from a Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) center near her village, she was on death's doorstep: dizzy and unable to walk, much less work."
"But in my family, you follow through on your commitments and show up at school or work unless you are on death's doorstep. But maybe I was on death's doorstep, because Mom and I didn't even discuss the idea of my leaving the house."
"Look, we all know that some of the things that we do will put us on death's doorstep one day."

Etymology

Probably a shortening of the phrasal verb sit on death's doorstep.

Questions

What does on death's doorstep mean?: Almost dead.
Where does on death's doorstep come from?: Probably a shortening of the phrasal verb sit on death's doorstep.

How to pronounce on death's doorstep

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “on death's doorstep”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “on death's doorstep”.
Repeat and practice — Say “on death's doorstep” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.