"strong as death" meaning in English

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      "expansion": "strong as death (not comparable)",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
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          "ref": "1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or The Ambiguities:",
          "text": "Now alive as he was to all these searching argumentative itemizings of the minutest known facts any way bearing upon the subject; and yet, at the same time, persuaded, strong as death, that in spite of them, Isabel was indeed his sister; how could Pierre […] fail to acknowledge the existence of that all-controlling and all-permeating wonderfulness […] denominated The Finger of God?",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "1877, Edward William Lewis Davies, Frank Raleigh of Watercombe (page 247)",
          "text": "With this feeling strong as death upon him, he crumpled up the letters into one mass and tossed them precipitately into the fire."
        }
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      "glosses": [
        "Very strong or emotionally powerful."
      ],
      "id": "en-strong_as_death-en-adj-aPiW65uM",
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        [
          "strong",
          "strong"
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      "qualifier": "simile",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(simile) Very strong or emotionally powerful."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
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  "word": "strong as death"
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      "expansion": "strong as death (not comparable)",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
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          "ref": "1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or The Ambiguities:",
          "text": "Now alive as he was to all these searching argumentative itemizings of the minutest known facts any way bearing upon the subject; and yet, at the same time, persuaded, strong as death, that in spite of them, Isabel was indeed his sister; how could Pierre […] fail to acknowledge the existence of that all-controlling and all-permeating wonderfulness […] denominated The Finger of God?",
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        {
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          "text": "With this feeling strong as death upon him, he crumpled up the letters into one mass and tossed them precipitately into the fire."
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        "Very strong or emotionally powerful."
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        "(simile) Very strong or emotionally powerful."
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        "not-comparable"
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  "word": "strong as death"
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