deathbed

deathbed conversion

The adoption of a particular religion when one's death is near. A: "I didn't know Rita was Catholic." B: "She wasn't, not until her deathbed conversion." I see a lot of deathbed conversions when I work in the hospital—people seem to need religion especially as they near the end of their lives.
See also: deathbed

on (one's) deathbed

In the process of or very close to dying. He was on his deathbed when he finally confessed his love for Martha. They're scrambling to give her the contracts to sign on her deathbed, as the deals become null and void if she doesn't sign off on them for any reason.
See also: deathbed, on
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

on one's deathbed

while one is in bed and dying. While he lay on his deathbed, he told his lawyer that he wanted to give all his money to charity.
See also: deathbed, on
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

on (one's) deathbed

Close to death.
See also: deathbed, on
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • deathbed conversion
  • be remembered as (something)
  • be remembered as/for something
  • at the end of (one's) fingertips
  • at (one's) expense
  • at expense
  • at somebody's expense
  • at someone's expense
  • be in (one's) good graces
  • be in somebody's good graces
References in periodicals archive
For others offering deathbed confessions about their Jewishness, the motivation is rooted in a desire to relieve themselves from the burden of carrying a secret or guide descendants back into Judaism's fold.
When Elders Reveal on their Death Bed that they are Jewish, their Children Often Return to Judaism
She added: "I'm in total despair because to me it's beyond disgusting because we promised him on his deathbed it was going to happen.
We married on my husband's deathbed - but now I have no rights over his body
Messi is only at Barcelona because of a promise he made to [former boss] Tito Vilanova on his deathbed.
Lionel Messi is only at Barcelona because of "deathbed" vow to Tito Vilanova, says Henk Ten Cate; The four-time world player of the year has fallen out with Camp Nou boss Luis Enrique and started on the bench for Sunday's 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad
"She prohibited me from asking about him, but on her deathbed she told me that she was very sure my father was searching for me and longing to see his daughter.
Help me find my lost dad
Sir James, who built the home in 1698, left instructions that on his deathbed he should not be buried.
Leave me to rest in peace
London : Mathematicians from a US university have finally solved a cryptic puzzle renowned mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan claimed came to him in his dreams while he was on his deathbed. While on his deathbed in 1920, Ramanujan wrote a letter to his mentor, British mathematician G.H.
Ramanujan's theory finally proved right
He noted that a hospital was built for the first time in Anatolia during the SelE*uk time at the bequest of a woman on her deathbed. "Gevher Nesibe, the daughter of [SelE*uk Sultan] II KylyE*arslan, was suffering from tuberculosis.
Spirit of old trade guilds survives in Kayseri
New Britain, CT, March 28, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Alexander Litvinenko: The Deathbed Statement -- Who really wrote it?
New Video Questions Litvinenko Deathbed Statement Authenticity
REMEMBER the old gag about the bloke on his deathbed who recalls how his wife had been there for him when he had pneumonia, when he suffered his own bereavement, ad , when he rebuilt his business after a fire and as he recovered after a car crash?
BEEN THERE, LOST THAT AT
A DEATHBED comment prompted a theft spree, a court heard.
Son stole to pay; Mother's deathbed comment led to theft
Although I am a bit biased--I am the writer's father--I am also an oncologist and want to comment on Heather Grennan Gary's "Deathbed Confusion" (November).
Bedside manner
Citizen Kane, a thinly-disguised biography of press baron William Randolph Hearst, is the epic tale told in flashback as a reporter tries to discover why on his deathbed Kane uttered the single word...rosebud.
More than Kane on masterpiece
But when they hit their groove for the unashamed boogie of Step Up (I'm On It) and old school Waiting On My Deathbed they're a force to be reckoned with.
MAYLENE & THE SONS OF [...]
But Eternal Sonata thrusts Frederic Chopin into the gaming limelight as, on his deathbed, the famous composer dreams of a young girl facing a terrible destiny and the boy who will fight to save her.
review: top game
'People say they would get off their deathbed to ride the Gold Cup favourite.
HORSE PLAY Just for the fun of it