From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsudden deathˌsudden ˈdeath noun [uncountable] DSa way of deciding the winner of a game when the scores are equal at the end. The game goes on until one player or team gains the lead a sudden death play-off
Examples from the Corpus
sudden death• Friends and associates said Lehner had appeared to be in good health and his sudden death was a stunning surprise.• Ashburn likely autographed only a handful of the cards before his sudden death, so even dealers are scrambling to find thems.• However, even in carefully screened populations sudden death is often the first manifestation of a cardiac disorder.• It had shocked him, too, when he heard of Adolph Brückner's sudden death.• When mouth to mouth resuscitation is needed there is a particularly high risk of subsequent sudden death.• One of the hazards of the sudden death of infants was that they might be carried off before they had been baptised.• It tells the story of the sudden death of a young girl who was a liar. 