sudden death

Noun

sudden death (countable and uncountable, plural sudden deaths)

1. (countable) An instantaneous, unexpected death not caused by violence or trauma.
2. 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.

   Synonyms:

   sudden victory

3. (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
4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see sudden, death.