for (one's) life
for (one's) life
Desperately, urgently, or frantically, because or as if one's life is at stake. With the outcome of this game determining whether they'll continue in the tournament, the team will need to play for their lives. The reactor is going to blow any minute—run for your lives! With the cancer progressing at an alarming rate, Mary is now fighting for her life.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
for life
for the remainder of one's life. The accident caused me to become blind for life. She will stay in prison for life.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
for life
Till the end of one's life.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.