죽다 -- to die.

Contents 1 Usage 1.1 To die 1.2 To lose 1.3 To go out 1.4 To run down 1.5 In play 1.6 As a threat 2 Examples 3 Proverbs 3.1 South Korea 3.2 North Korea 4 Idioms 5 Related hanja 6 See also

[edit] Usage

[edit] To die

The primary meaning of 죽다 is to die. This can refer to people, animals or plants. In regards to people though, it is more respectful to say 돌아가시다 or 별세하시다, which is analogous to saying someone has passed away, and much less respectful to say 뒈지다. In the press, the expression 숨지다 is often used. The putative form of 죽다 is 죽이다 (to cause death ☞ to kill).

• 죽은 사람 a dead person
• 죽은 친구 a dead friend
• 죽은 개 a dead dog
• 죽은 잎 withered (dead, dried) leaves
• 죽은 나무 a dead tree

• 갑자기 죽다 to die suddenly; drop dead
• 곧 죽다 to die instantly/quickly
• 사고로 죽다 to die in an accident
• 암으로 죽다 to die of cancer
• 타 죽다 to burn to death
• 얼어 죽다 to freeze to death
• 굶어 죽다 to starve to death
• 맞아죽다 to be beaten to death
• 목을 매어 죽다 to die by hanging
• 물에 빠져 죽다 to die by drowning
• 벼락 맞아 죽다 to be struck dead by lightning (seen as receiving one's just deserts from the heavens)
• 전쟁에서 죽다 to be killed in war
• 전투 중에 죽다 to be killed in action
• 음독하여 죽다 to kill yourself by taking poison
• 재직 중에 죽다 to die in office
• 제명을 다하고 죽다 to die a natural death
• 바다에서 죽다 to die at sea
• 집에서 죽다 to die in your bed; a natural death

• 빚을 많이 지고 죽다 to die greatly in debt
• 30세에 죽다 to die at the age of 30
• 젊어서 죽다 to die young
• 늙어서 죽다 to die old
• 미쳐 죽다 to die a lunatic
• 거지가 되어 죽다 to die a beggar
• 고통스럽게 죽다 to die painfully
• 편안히 죽다 to die peacefully
• 용감히 죽다 to die bravely
• 웃으면서 죽다 to greet one's death with a smile

• 말라죽다 to wither, dry up, or shrivel (plants)

[edit] To lose

You may also use 죽다 when a particular characteristic like coloring or starchiness is gone.

• ~에 풀기가 죽다 the starchiness (in something) is gone
• ~에 맛이 죽다 to lose the taste (in food)
• ~에 숨이 죽다 to lose the crispness (in a vegetable)
• 기가 죽다 to lose spirit

[edit] To go out

죽다 is also used to describe a fire or flame that has gone out.

• 불이 죽다 to go out (a fire)
• 죽어 가는 불 a dying fire

[edit] To run down

When describing machines, 죽다 means that they have run down or stopped working.

• 시계가 죽다 a clock has stopped (ticking)

[edit] In play

The word 죽다 is also used in a number of games. In baduk or janggi it means one of your pieces has been captured. In baseball, 야구, it means you have been thrown out. In card games, like Hwatu, it means to fold.

[edit] As a threat

Like in English, 죽다 is also used as a threat, either playful or not. "Do you want to die 죽을래?" is the commonest way to express this.

[edit] Examples

• 내가 아는 사람이 죽었어요. Someone I know died.
• 전쟁에서 많은 군인이 죽었다. Many soldiers died in the war.
• 그는 죽어 가고 있어요 He is dying. (He is near death)
• 그는 죽은 것이나 다름없다 He is as good as dead.
• 이게 죽느냐 사느냐의 문제이에요 This is a matter of life and death.
• 죽어 버려! Drop dead!
• 촛불이 죽었다. The candle light went out.
• 모닥불이 죽어 가고 있어. The campfire is going out.
• 우리 새 라디오가 벌써 죽었다. Our new radio is already broken.
• 심심해 죽겠다 I am bored to death.
• 더워 죽겠다 The heat is killing me.
• 그녀가 보고 싶어 죽겠다 I am dying to see her.
• 너 늦으면 죽어! If you're late, you're dead!
• 살 것인가, 아니면 죽을 것인가, 그것이 문제로다. To be or not to be: that is the question
• 저 친구는 기가 죽었네 He's lost his spirit.

[edit] Proverbs

[edit] South Korea

• 죽겠다 죽겠다 하면서 정작 죽으라면 싫어한다: Though one may welcome death in words, few welcome it in truth.
• 죽기 살기는 시왕전에 매였다: Long before either life or death, bound are we to the Ten Kings.
• 죽기는 그릇 죽어도 발인이야 택일 아니할까: Even someone who dies a wrongful death can have a funeral on an auspicious day.
• 죽기는 섧지 않으나 늙기가 섧다: It is more sorrowful to grow old than to die.
• 죽기는 정승 하기보다 어렵다: Dying is harder than being prime minister.
• 죽는 년이 밑 감추랴: Do the dead keep their death secret?
• 죽는 놈이 탈 없으랴: Do the dead not have their own troubles?
• 죽어 보아야 저승을 안다: One must first die to know the world beyond.
• 죽어 석 잔 술이 살아 한 잔 술만 못하다: Tis better to take one drink alive than three dead.
• 죽어도 시집 울타리 밑에서 죽어라: Should you die, die in your in-laws' yard.
• 죽어도 시집의 귀신: Should you die, be a ghost at your in-laws'.
• 죽어서 상여 뒤에 따라와야 자식이다: Children are those who follow behind the casket.
• 죽어서도 넋두리를 한다: Even the dead can speak through a shaman.
• 죽어서도 무당 빌려 말하는데 살아서 말 못할까: The dead speak through shamans while the living stay silent.
• 죽었다는 헛소문이 돈 사람은 오래 산다: Those whose death is rumored live longest.
• 죽으러 가는 양의 걸음: Walking like a sheep on the way to its death.
• 죽은 게도 동여매고 먹으라: Even a dead crab should be tied down before eating.
• 죽은 고기 안문하기: (He's) questioning dead meat.
• 죽은 고양이가 산 고양이 보고 아웅 한다: A dead cat playing peekaboo with a live cat.
• 죽은 나무 밑에 살 나무 난다: New trees are born at the feet of dead trees.
• 죽은 나무에 꽃이 핀다: Flowers bloom on dead trees.
• 죽은 놈의 콧김만도 못하다: Colder than the breath of a dead man.
• 죽은 놈의 발바닥 같다: Like the sole of a dead man's foot.
• 죽은 다음에 청심환: Administering medicine to the dead.
• 죽은 닭에도 호세를 붙인다: Affixing a house tax on a dead chicken.
• 죽은 덤불에 산 열매 난다: Fruit springs from dead bushes.
• 죽은 사람 원도 푼다: Even the hopes of the dead come true.
• 죽은 석숭보다 산 돼지가 낫다: A live pig is better than a dead Shi Chong.
• 죽은 시어미도 보리방아 찧을 때는 생각난다: Even a dead mother-in-law can be fondly remembered milling barley.
• 죽은 아이 눈매가 곱다: The loveliest eyes are those of dead children.
• 죽은 자식 나이 세기: Reckoning the age of dead children.
• 죽은 자식 눈 열어 보기: Opening the eyes of dead children.
• 죽은 정승이 산 개만 못하다: Better to be a live dog than dead.
• 죽은 중 매질하기: Flogging the dead.
• 죽은 최가 하나가 산 김가 셋을 당한다: One Choi dead is worth three Kims living.
• 죽을 놈이 한 배에 탔다: The living are all on the same.
• 죽을 수가 닥치면 살 수가 생긴다: As death approaches, so does life.
• 죽을 짬이 없다: Too busy to die.
• 죽재도 죽을 겨를이 없다: Even bamboo is too busy to die.

[edit] North Korea

• 죽게 되면 원님의 상투라도 잡는다: Once dead, even the magistrate's topknot can be straightened out.
• 죽기가 섧은 것이 아니라 아픈 것이 싫다: Being dead isn't as unhappy as dying.
• 죽는 것보다 까무라치는 것이 낫다: Tis better to faint than to die.
• 죽어 가는 이붓자식 돌봐 주는 이 아무도 없다: A dying stepchild has no caregiver.
• 죽어도 눈을 감겠다: Even in death, I'll close my eyes.
• 죽어도 석 잔이다: Even dead, three glasses.
• 죽어도 씨오쟁이는 베고 죽는다: Even in death, its hands of the seed basket.
• 죽어도 죄만은 남는다: Even in death, crime lingers.
• 죽어도 큰 칼에 맞아 죽어라: If one must die, let it be from a big sword.
• 죽으라는 말보다 가라는 말이 더 섧다: Better to hear "Die!" than "Leave!"
• 죽은 게 발 놀리듯 한다: To die is to tease your feet.
• 죽은 게도 발을 맨다: To die is to bind our feet.
• 죽은 놈의 입은 벌리지 않는다: The dead don't open their mouths.
• 죽은 뒤 초혼의 제 지낸다: Once dead, the funeral is held.
• 죽은 량반이 산 개만도 못하다: Tis better to be a living dog than a dead Yangban.
• 죽은 말 지키듯 한다: The secrets of the dead are kept.
• 죽은 말 한 마리에 산 말 한 마리: The words of the dead, for the words of the living.
• 죽은 사람 손에서 떡 빼앗아 먹겠다: Snatching rice cakes from the hands of the dead.
• 죽은 송장도 입을 벌리게 한다: Corpses don't open their mouths.
• 죽은 아이 코김 쐬듯 한다: Cooling off from the snort of a dead child.
• 죽은 이만 불쌍하지 산 사람은 제살이 한다: Only the dead should be pitied, the living should stand on their own two feet.
• 죽은 자식의 귀 모양 좋다 하지 말라: Don't brag about the ears of your dead children.
• 죽은 자식이야 다 잘났지: What good are dead children?
• 죽은 정승이 산 종만 못하다: Tis better to be a living dog than a dead Prime Minister.
• 죽은 정(이) 하루(에) 천 리 간다: Affect for the dead travels a thousand miles a day.
• 죽을 건 환갑집 돼지라:
• 죽을 고비에 빠진 사람은 살 구멍을 찾아낸다:
• 죽을 때까지 배워도 다 배우지 못한다: Try as you might, not all things in life can be learned.
• 죽을 변을 만나면 살길도 있다: The road to salvation always follows disaster.
• 죽지 않으면 산다: It's life or death.
• 죽지 않으면 살 소리:

[edit] Idioms

• 죽고 못 살다: To really, really like or value something
• 죽기를 기 쓰다: To use all your strength on something very hard.
• 죽기보다 싫다: To really, really hate something
• 죽었다 깨어도: If one were to be reborn
• 죽으나 사나: To constantly do one thing, without even a thought of doing something else.
• 죽은 목숨:
• 죽을 고생을 하다:
• 죽을 둥 살 둥:
• 죽을 똥을 싸다:
• 죽자 사자 하다:
• 죽지 못해 살다:
• 죽지도 살지도 못한다:

[edit] Related hanja

• 死: 죽을 사

[edit] See also

• 죽이다
• 운명