life-or-death
adjective
Forms life-and-death life or death
- adjective Of critical importance to the survival of a living organism. “Good camoflouge is life or death for many animals in the wild.”
- adjective Having death as a possible or even likely outcome; perilous. “Ascending Mount Everest can be life or death for an inexperienced climber.”
- adjective (idiomatic) Of critical importance to the success of a particular endeavor. “Obtaining financing was a life-or-death matter for the research.”
Synonyms
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “life-or-death”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details