Die \Die\, n.; pl. in 1 and (usually) in 2, Dice (d[imac]s);
   in 4 & 5, Dies (d[imac]z). [OE. dee, die, F. d['e], fr. L.
   datus given, thrown, p. p. of dare to give, throw. See Date
   a point of time.]
   1. A small cube, marked on its faces with spots from one to
      six, and used in playing games by being shaken in a box
      and thrown from it. See Dice.
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   2. Any small cubical or square body.
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            Words . . . pasted upon little flat tablets or dies.
                                                  --Watts.
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   3. That which is, or might be, determined, by a throw of the
      die; hazard; chance.
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            Such is the die of war.               --Spenser.
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   4. (Arch.) That part of a pedestal included between base and
      cornice; the dado.
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   5. (Mach.)
      (a) A metal or plate (often one of a pair) so cut or
          shaped as to give a certain desired form to, or
          impress any desired device on, an object or surface,
          by pressure or by a blow; used in forging metals,
          coining, striking up sheet metal, etc.
      (b) A perforated block, commonly of hardened steel used in
          connection with a punch, for punching holes, as
          through plates, or blanks from plates, or for forming
          cups or capsules, as from sheet metal, by drawing.
      (c) A hollow internally threaded screw-cutting tool, made
          in one piece or composed of several parts, for forming
          screw threads on bolts, etc.; one of the separate
          parts which make up such a tool.
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   Cutting die (Mech.), a thin, deep steel frame, sharpened to
      a cutting edge, for cutting out articles from leather,
      cloth, paper, etc.

   The die is cast, the hazard must be run; the step is taken,
      and it is too late to draw back; the last chance is taken.
      Diecian

Die \Die\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Died; p. pr. & vb. n. Dying.]
   [OE. deyen, dien, of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. deyja; akin to
   Dan. d["o]e, Sw. d["o], Goth. diwan (cf. Goth. afd?jan to
   harass), OFries. d?ia to kill, OS. doian to die, OHG. touwen,
   OSlav. daviti to choke, Lith. dovyti to torment. Cf. Dead,
   Death.]
   1. To pass from an animate to a lifeless state; to cease to
      live; to suffer a total and irreparable loss of action of
      the vital functions; to become dead; to expire; to perish;
      -- said of animals and vegetables; often with of, by,
      with, from, and rarely for, before the cause or occasion
      of death; as, to die of disease or hardships; to die by
      fire or the sword; to die with horror at the thought.
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            To die by the roadside of grief and hunger.
                                                  --Macaulay.
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            She will die from want of care.       --Tennyson.
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   2. To suffer death; to lose life.
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            In due time Christ died for the ungodly. --Rom. v.
                                                  6.
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   3. To perish in any manner; to cease; to become lost or
      extinct; to be extinguished.
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            Letting the secret die within his own breast.
                                                  --Spectator.
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            Great deeds can not die.              --Tennyson.
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   4. To sink; to faint; to pine; to languish, with weakness,
      discouragement, love, etc.
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            His heart died within, and he became as a stone. --1
                                                  Sam. xxv. 37.
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            The young men acknowledged, in love letters, that
            they died for Rebecca.                --Tatler.
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   5. To become indifferent; to cease to be subject; as, to die
      to pleasure or to sin.
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   6. To recede and grow fainter; to become imperceptible; to
      vanish; -- often with out or away.
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            Blemishes may die away and disappear amidst the
            brightness.                           --Spectator.
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   7. (Arch.) To disappear gradually in another surface, as
      where moldings are lost in a sloped or curved face.
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   8. To become vapid, flat, or spiritless, as liquor.
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   To die in the last ditch, to fight till death; to die
      rather than surrender.
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            "There is one certain way," replied the Prince
            [William of Orange] " by which I can be sure never
            to see my country's ruin, -- I will die in the last
            ditch."                               --Hume (Hist.
                                                  of Eng. ).

   To die out, to cease gradually; as, the prejudice has died
      out.

   Syn: To expire; decease; perish; depart; vanish.
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dice \dice\ (d[imac]s), n.; pl. of Die.
   Small cubes used in gaming or in determining by chance; also,
   the game played with dice. See Die, n.
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   dice coal, a kind of coal easily splitting into cubical
      fragments. --Brande & C.
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DIET. An assembly held by persons having authority to manage the public 
affairs of the nation. In Germany, such assemblies are known by this name: 

DIE, n.  The singular of "dice."  We seldom hear the word, because
there is a prohibitory proverb, "Never say die."  At long intervals,
however, some one says:  "The die is cast," which is not true, for it
is cut.  The word is found in an immortal couplet by that eminent poet
and domestic economist, Senator Depew:

    A cube of cheese no larger than a die
    May bait the trap to catch a nibbling mie.