sudden death meaning: definition, quotations

sudden death

noun

An instantaneous, unexpected death not caused by violence or trauma.

Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A period or mode of play in which the next player or team to score wins instantly; often in an extra period of time following a tie at the end of the regular period of play.

India, Historical, Slang A meal of a chicken freshly slaughtered and spatchcocked.

An old sinner, in shape of a khansamah, is the genius of the place, and has rarely aught else to tempt the tired traveller with than a “sudden death”—a fowl caught running in the yard, and dished up forthwith; […]1866, Frederick F. Wyman, From Calcutta to the Snowy Range, page 330:
Our next dish is one which has shown no signs of scarcity since we reached India, — the ever present chicken, or “sudden death,” as it is called here, from the Anglo-Indian custom of cooking a fowl that has been running about the garden half an hour before.1892, Mary Thorn Carpenter, A Girl's Winter in India, page 209:

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see sudden, death.

Related terms: sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, sudden death syndrome, sudden unexpected death syndrome, sudden unexplained death syndrome, Yunnan sudden death syndrome, golden goal