fatality rate

noun

plural fatality rates

: the number of deaths from a specific cause

Last year, South Carolina had the nation's third-highest highway fatality rate, with 1,064 people killed in wrecks on the state's roads.

—Joseph S. Stroud

McGuire is a practitioner of what he calls the king of all extreme sports. BASE—an acronym for building, antenna, span (bridge) and earth (cliffs)—jumping has one of the sporting world's highest fatality rates: in its 18-year history, 46 participants have been killed.

—Karl Taro Greenfield

specifically : case fatality rate

Dysentery, in which fatality rates in untreated cases range as high as 50 percent, is especially dangerous to children.

—James C. Riley

Examples of fatality rate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Speeding isn’t the only reason why the US has such high road fatality rates. —Marin Cogan, Vox, 13 May 2024

The apps’ payment algorithms pressure them to deliver meals on opposite ends of Manhattan in mere minutes—so the fatality rate has become one of the highest for any job here. —Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 7 June 2024

According to the Medical College of Wisconsin, firearm injury has nearly a 90% fatality rate. —Natalie Eilbert, Journal Sentinel, 28 May 2024

Scottsdale had the lowest ranking, with 46 out of the 102 fatal accidents occurring at night, resulting in a nighttime fatality rate of 45.1%. —Perry Vandell, The Arizona Republic, 16 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

fatality rate

noun

: the number of deaths from a specific cause

… the inclusion of air bags and other design improvements in vehicles, the use of seat belts and even the increasing maturity of the driving population have combined to lower the fatality rate on U. S. highways by 29 percent since 1987.

—Stefan Thomke et al., Scientific American

specifically : case fatality rate

Dysentery, in which fatality rates in untreated cases range as high as 50 percent, is especially dangerous to children.

—James C. Riley, The American Historical Review