for dear life
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
with all one's strength or effort
Literally: holding onto something to preserve life
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
She held onto the rope for dear life as the boat rocked violently.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “for dear life” mean?
with all one's strength or effort Literally: holding onto something to preserve life
Is “for dear life” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“trối chết” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.