'at the death's door' or 'at death's door'?
After doing a placement test (http://www.study.ru/test/test.php?id=97), I found out that the correct answer to

45. When he fell down again, he thought he was … .
a) at the death’s door
b) at death’s door
c) at a death’s door

was a). But all my dictionaries says that they only know the idiom 'at death's door'. Is there a mistake in the test, or should I learn about alterations in idioms when they go into real sentences?

Question

'at the death's door' or 'at death's door'?
After doing a placement test (http://www.study.ru/test/test.php?id=97), I found out that the correct answer to

45. When he fell down again, he thought he was … .
a) at the death’s door 
b) at death’s door 
c) at a death’s door

was a). But all my dictionaries says that they only know the idiom 'at death's door'. Is there a mistake in the test, or should I learn about alterations in idioms when they go into real sentences?

Answer

At death's door.

Answer

I think your test is mistaken :) Indeed, he thought he was at death's door.

Answer

I have hard times with articles before half-general nouns (as I described here: http://www.italki.com/question/210984). 
We don't use the article 'the' before 'death' here, although we use 'the' in 'the Sacrament'. :-|

Answer

Yes, "death" is treated as a human-like character in this idiom, so at whose door? At death's door.

Answers · 6

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