death-n; 3 Senses

Sense Number 1: lifeless state, decease

Commentary: (NP [+animate] -> NP [-animate]

Examples:
her death came as a terrible shock
Slow poisoning by arsenic leads to a painful death.
he seemed more content in death than he had ever been in life
'til death do us part'.
The climbers froze to death on the side of the mountain.
His negligence resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent people.

Mappings:
PropBank: death.01
WordNet 1.7 Sense Numbers: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7

Sense Number 2: ending or destruction of some abstract thing or process

Examples:
It spelled death for the arms treaty when the delegates walked out.
The rise of the automobile was the death of the horse and buggy.

Mappings:
PropBank: NM
WordNet 1.7 Sense Numbers: 6, 8

Sense Number 3: imaginary being, personification of the process of death.

Commentary: (usually capitalized, does not occur with determiners or in plural form)

Examples:
Death Takes a Holiday.
He worked hard to keep death from his doorstep.

Mappings:
PropBank: NM
WordNet 1.7 Sense Numbers: 4