shuffle off this mortal coil

Definition

To die; to divest oneself of one's mortal body.

Etymology

From Hamlet by William Shakespeare, see mortal coil.

Example Sentences

• "For in that ſleepe of death, what dreames may come, / When we haue ſhuffel'd off this mortall coile, / Muſt giue vs pawſe."
• "But when you and I shuffle off this mortal coil, formal remembrances won’t be the only way we are remembered."
• "Handsome, with a Freud-like beard and piercing eyes, it was also said that he had perfected the death stare. Whenever he required the skeleton of some exotic beast to compare with his fossil bones, he would visit Basel Zoo and stare at the appropriate animal, which would soon thereafter shuffle off its mortal coil."