To die game

Game \Game\, a.
   1. Having a resolute, unyielding spirit, like the gamecock;
      ready to fight to the last; plucky.
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            I was game . . . .I felt that I could have fought
            even to the death.                    --W. Irving.
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   2. Of or pertaining to such animals as are hunted for game,
      or to the act or practice of hunting.
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   {Game bag}, a sportsman's bag for carrying small game
      captured; also, the whole quantity of game taken.

   {Game bird}, any bird commonly shot for food, esp. grouse,
      partridges, quails, pheasants, wild turkeys, and the shore
      or wading birds, such as plovers, snipe, woodcock, curlew,
      and sandpipers. The term is sometimes arbitrarily
      restricted to birds hunted by sportsmen, with dogs and
      guns.

   {Game egg}, an egg producing a gamecock.

   {Game laws}, laws regulating the seasons and manner of taking
      game for food or for sport.

   {Game preserver}, a land owner who regulates the killing of
      game on his estate with a view to its increase. [Eng.]

   {To be game}.
      (a) To show a brave, unyielding spirit.
      (b) To be victor in a game. [Colloq.]

   {To die game}, to maintain a bold, unyielding spirit to the
      last; to die fighting.
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