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# dying

«dying» in Mova's school dictionary: **coming to the end of life; about to die** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb, the -ing form of «die» (die, dies, died, dying); adjective (dying)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Dying means coming to the end of life; about to die. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dying/#m1)

2) Dying can mean fading or ending, like a dying fire or dying light. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dying/#m2)

3) «Dying to» or «dying for» means wanting something very much (informal). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dying/#m3)

4) Dying of hunger means feeling extremely hungry (informal). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dying/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons, plants dying without water or light show what living things need. In stories and history, it describes death and loss, so it is a serious word. In everyday talk, «I'm dying to know» is an exaggeration. Phrases: «dying to …», «dying for a drink», «a dying wish», «a dying breed».

### examples

- The plant is dying because it has no water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dying/#x1)
- The dying fire glowed red. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dying/#x2)
- I'm dying to know what's in the box! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dying/#x3)
- The old dog was dying, so we said goodbye. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dying/#x4)
- Many coral reefs are dying because the sea is too warm. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dying/#x5)
- I'm dying for a cold drink. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dying/#x6)
- The light was dying as the sun set. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dying/#x7)
- I am just now dying of hunger. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dying/#x8)

### note

Spelling trap: «dying» (from «die», end of life) versus «dyeing» (from «dye», colouring cloth or hair). «Die» changes «ie» to «y» before -ing: lie → lying, tie → tying. Kind words about death help people who are sad. Not a number word.

### In the corpora

- [Picture a living room in Melbourne: Dad sits you down and says, "Grandad is dying.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/24-when-someone-dies/3/)
- [Children can usually handle sad truths, like a pet dying, when they are told with love.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/453-lied-to-by-someone-you-love/47/)
- [Many young people use 💀 to mean "I'm dying of laughter"; older people may read it as being about death.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/30-texting-abbreviations-and-emoji/6/)
- [Nobody is dying: in Mandarin, «sǐ le» (dead) just means «very».](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/53-told-you-a-hundred-times-how-other-languages-exaggerate-and-play-down/4/)
- [People often dream of falling or dying and wake up fine; a dream cannot hurt your body.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/2-your-amazing-brain-and-senses/15/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «dying» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dying/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.