Definition of: "from cradle to grave" with explanation and origin

Definition of: from cradle to grave with explanation and origin? Meaning of from cradle to grave with examples in English idiom dictionary.

English	English

Definition of: "from cradle to grave" with explanation and origin

from cradle to grave

from cradle to grave

Variants

from the cradle to the grave,
cradle-to-grave,
from womb to tomb.

Meaning

• The phrase is used to refer to something that spans a human lifetime.
• throughout one’s life.
• the duration or length of one’s life.
• It can be used more generally to mean “from start to finish.”
• The adjectival form, ‘cradle-to-grave,’ is most frequently used in conjunction with government or corporate benefits such as Social Security or health care.

Example in Sentences

1. He was a difficult man; from the cradle to the grave, he was constantly angry or upset.
2. The proposed book would examine the life of the famous rock star from cradle to grave.
3. Hesketh Pearson reported that the novelist, Thomas Harding, once told him, “Fate stalks us with depressing monotony from womb to tomb…” (Pearson, The Whispering Gallery, p. 151).
4. The health insurance benefits offered by the government will cover you and your children from the cradle to the grave.
5. Critics say that the cradle-to-grave Social Security system is in dire need of reform, but this is far from the truth.
6. This health plan provides protection from the cradle to the grave.

Origin

In their book, Free to Choose (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979, p. 93), Milton and Rose Freidman claimed that the phrase “cradle to grave” was coined by Edward Bellamy in his dystopian novel, Looking Backward (New York: Modern Library, 1917, p. 70). However, it was used at least as early as the 18th century. In 1788, Henry Grattan, Esq., delivered a speech in the House of Commons concerning the subject of tithes in which he referred to individuals following “their fellow creature(s) from cradle to grave” (The Speeches of the Right Honourable Henry Grattan, Volume 2). Rev. James McKernan used the phrase “from cradle to grave” in his 1892 poem, “Viewing the Procession.”

The Origins of from cradle to grave

English

Related Dictionary

• English Definition & Meaning Dictionary
• English Idioms and phrases Dictionary
• Dictionnaire Français
• Dictionnaire d'expressions idiomatiques et de phrases en français

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English Idioms and phrases

An idiom is a common word or phrase with a figurative, non-literal meaning that is understood culturally and differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words (although some idioms do retain their literal meanings – see the example "kick the bucket" below). By another definition, an idiom is a speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements.[3] For example, an English speaker would understand the phrase "kick the bucket" to mean "to die" – and also to actually kick a bucket. Furthermore, they would understand when each meaning is being used in context.

To evoke the desired effect in the listener, idioms require a precise replication of the phrase: not even articles can be used interchangeably (e.g. "kick a bucket" only retains the literal meaning of the phrase but not the idiomatic meaning).

Idioms should not be confused with other figures of speech such as metaphors, which evoke an image by use of implicit comparisons (e.g., "the man of steel"); similes, which evoke an image by use of explicit comparisons (e.g., "faster than a speeding bullet"); or hyperbole, which exaggerates an image beyond truthfulness (e.g., "more powerful than a locomotive"). Idioms are also not to be confused with proverbs, which are simple sayings that express a truth based on common sense or practical experience.