"like one's life depended on it" meaning in English

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      "expansion": "like one's life depended on it",
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      "expansion": "like one's life depended on it",
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  "lang_code": "en",
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          "ref": "2011 January 5, Jonathan Stevenson, “Arsenal 0 - 0 Man City”, in BBC:",
          "text": "With Carlos Tevez chasing down every lost cause like his life depended on it, City always had an out ball but Arsenal had such a monopoly on possession that they barely had to give thought even to the Argentine.",
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        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Desperately."
      ],
      "id": "en-like_one's_life_depended_on_it-en-prep_phrase-y9xy6EoY",
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          "Desperately",
          "desperately"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, simile) Desperately."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "for the life of one"
        },
        {
          "word": "to save one's life"
        },
        {
          "word": "as if there were no tomorrow"
        }
      ],
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        "idiomatic"
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      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "desperately",
          "word": "henkensä edestä"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "desperately",
          "word": "comme si sa vie en dépendait"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "desperately",
          "word": "mintha az élete múlna rajta"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "desperately",
          "word": "jakby od tego zależało życie"
        },
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          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "desperately",
          "word": "como si su vida dependiera de ello"
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "desperately",
          "word": "hayatı buna bağlıymış gibi"
        }
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  "word": "like one's life depended on it"
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      "expansion": "like one's life depended on it",
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  "related": [
    {
      "word": "for the life of one"
    },
    {
      "word": "to save one's life"
    },
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      "word": "as if there were no tomorrow"
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      ],
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        "Desperately."
      ],
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          "desperately"
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        "(idiomatic, simile) Desperately."
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "desperately",
      "word": "henkensä edestä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "desperately",
      "word": "comme si sa vie en dépendait"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "desperately",
      "word": "mintha az élete múlna rajta"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "desperately",
      "word": "jakby od tego zależało życie"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "desperately",
      "word": "como si su vida dependiera de ello"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "desperately",
      "word": "hayatı buna bağlıymış gibi"
    }
  ],
  "word": "like one's life depended on it"
}