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kill or cure

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kill or cure

  (British & Australian)

a way of solving a problem which will either fail completely or be very successful Having a baby can be kill or cure for a troubled marriage.

See also: cure, kill

kill or cure

Either remedy a disease or kill the patient, as in The copy chief did not like her headline for the drug, "Kill or Cure." This expression dates from the mid-1700s, when it was already being used half-jokingly.

See also: cure, kill