fight for one's life

fight for one's life (third-person singular simple present fights for one's life, present participle fighting for one's life, simple past and past participle fought for one's life)

1. (idiomatic) To be in danger of dying (as a result of injury, illness etc.).
   • 1988 [1981], Hualing Nieh Engle, translated by Jane Parish Yang and Linda Lappin, Mulberry and Peach: Two Women of China‎^[1], Boston: Beacon Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 16–17:

     When we got to Pa-tung, we found out that all the steamships have been requisitioned to transport ammunition and troops. Germany has surrendered to the Allies and the Japanese are desperately fighting for their lives.

   • 2024 August 30, Brenna Cooper, “Six dead and 37 fighting for life after drinking fake booze at Brit favourite holiday destination”, in ladbible.com‎^[2]:

     Six dead and 37 fighting for life after drinking fake booze at Brit favourite holiday destination

2. (idiomatic, by extension) To be in a highly unfavorable situation; to be on the verge of failure or collapse.
   • 2023 March 15, Michael J. de la Merced, Maureen Farrell, “Credit Suisse to Borrow Up to $54 Billion From Central Bank”, in The New York Times‎^[3]:

     Credit Suisse, the 166-year-old institution that was once an emblem of Swiss pride, is fighting for its life after investors, fearing that the bank would run out of money, dumped its stock and sent the price of insuring its debt against a default skyrocketing.

• “fight for one’s life”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “fight for your life” (US) / “fight for your life” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.