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.