to the death | meaning of to the death in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English | LDOCE

From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishto the deathto the deatha) FIGHTuntil someone is dead  They will fight to the death rather than give an inch of ground.  soldiers locked in a struggle to the death b) DETERMINEDuntil you achieve something even if it means that you suffer  The leadership election has become a fight to the death. → deathExamples from the Corpusto the death• While not explicit, many implied that they would indeed fight to the death for their managing director.• They simply seem to charge into battle, and would probably to fight to the death unless we separated them.• No, she fights her to the death, which from the point of view of the species is unhelpful.• Pepper spray has been linked to the deaths of 39 people in California and 80 people across the country.• But I find them particularly disturbing when related to the death of a refugee seeking asylum in Britain.