dying
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 →
2) Dying can mean fading or ending, like a dying fire or dying light. tree →
3) «Dying to» or «dying for» means wanting something very much (informal). tree →
4) Dying of hunger means feeling extremely hungry (informal). tree →
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 →
- The dying fire glowed red. tree →
- I'm dying to know what's in the box! tree →
- The old dog was dying, so we said goodbye. tree →
- Many coral reefs are dying because the sea is too warm. tree →
- I'm dying for a cold drink. tree →
- The light was dying as the sun set. tree →
- I am just now dying of hunger. tree →
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.
- Children can usually handle sad truths, like a pet dying, when they are told with love.
- Many young people use 💀 to mean "I'm dying of laughter"; older people may read it as being about death.
- Nobody is dying: in Mandarin, «sǐ le» (dead) just means «very».
- People often dream of falling or dying and wake up fine; a dream cannot hurt your body.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «dying» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.