either do or die
either do or die verb: to act with sufficient urgency to result in either immediate success or immediate failure.
Verb
either do or die (third-person singular simple present either does or dies, present participle either doing or dying, simple past either did or died, past participle either done or died)
- To act with sufficient urgency to result in either immediate success or immediate failure.
- Emanuel: Bless us, dear Fortune! / Armusia: Let us be worthy of it in our courage, and Fortune must befriend us. Come, all sever; but keep still within sight: when the flame rises let's meet, and either do or die.1621 (first literary attestation), John Fletcher, The Island Princess act 2.scene 2
Forms of either do or die
| third-person singular present | either does or dies |
|---|---|
| present participle | either doing or dying |
| past | either did or died |
| past participle | either done or died |
| alternative form | do or die |
Origin of either do or die
An ultimatory verbal phrase composed of the words: either, do, or, and die.
Questions about either do or die
- What does either do or die mean?
- Either do or die means to act with sufficient urgency to result in either immediate success or immediate failure.
- What part of speech is either do or die?
- Either do or die is a verb.
- What is the past tense of either do or die?
- The past tense of either do or die is either did or died.
Words near either do or die in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: either do or die (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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