angel of death

English

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Noun

angel of death (plural angels of death)

  2. A personification of death in fiction, art, mythology, or religion.
    1. An angel which attends to death, collecting souls at death, ending life at the appointed time of death.
    2. An angel in Abrahamic scripture or eschatology that attends to death.
      1. Azrael.
      2. Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
    3. The Grim Reaper.
    4. (translations, of Japanese) A shinigami.
  3. (crime) A type of serial killer who is employed as a caregiver and kills people under their care.
    Synonym: angel of mercy
    • 2021 February 12, Vikram Dodd, “Colin Norris: serial killer nurse conviction sent to court of appeal”, in The Guardian‎[1], →ISSN:
      New evidence could lead to the freeing of a nurse known as the “angel of death” who was convicted of killing four patients.
  4. (mycology) Synonym of destroying angel (“a type of mushroom”).

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