A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

die away • die out
die away —(of a sound or light) become weaker or fainter:
The sound of the car died away in the distance.
die out—
1
. (of a group of living things) perish; become ex-
tinct: If too many of these rare animals are killed, their kind
will die out. 2. (of practices, customs, ideas, etc.) cease to exist;
disappear: It’s time this selfish habit died out.
die for something • die from something
die for something—(Progressive Tense) want smth. very ur-
gently: Her husband moved past us into the bar…. “I’m dying
for a margarita.”
die from something —(also: die of something ) 
1
. die as a result
of some cause: In a severe winter, wild animals can die from
lack of food. 2. (Progressive Tense) be in an extreme state of
the feeling mentioned: The children are dying from curiosity
to see what’s in the parcel.
die in a ditch • die in the last ditch
die in a ditch —die destitute in dire poverty: He who ab-
stains from whisky will never die in a ditch.
die in the last ditch —fight desperately defending smth. to
the last: I can be sure never to see my country’s ruin: I will
die in the last ditch. Cf.: last-ditch effort— a desperate final at-
tempt: He is negotiating with prosecutors in a last-ditch effort
to avert trial.
die on one’s feet • die standing up
die on one’s feet—
1
. die while still working; keep working
till the end: Harvey spent the next week working on the gen-
erator. He had died on his feet. 2. fight and give one’s life
courageously: Rather than surrender without a fight, the ex-
hausted army fought bravely to the bitter end and died on
their feet. 3. become absolutely exhausted (also: be dead on
one’s feet): I was cheered the whole way round and this really
helped over the last two miles when I was dying on my feet.