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The dictionary says:

do something like there’s no tomorrow:

do something very quickly and carelessly, without worrying about the future

Rita’s spending money like there’s no tomorrow.

The dictionary says "carelessly" and that sounds like being for a negative sense.

Can we say "the doctor treated a lot of patients like there was no tomorrow"?

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    Like there's no tomorrow doesn't imply "quickly". I'd gloss it as "fervidly and with abandon".
    – TimR
    Commented Jun 17 at 12:04
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    Every Saturday night I used to party like there was no tomorrow when I was aged 20. That was fun but it would probably kill me if I tried it now. I would not use it about a doctor treating lots of patients, unless the intended implication was that the doctor was going to use up the clinic's supply of drugs, bandages, money, etc, in a reckless and foolish manner, with no regard for the future. .
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Jun 17 at 12:13
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    The point being that the action is being done without any concern for what may happen in the future - Rita isn't making any attempt to save some of her money.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jun 17 at 12:15
  • literary synonym: with abandon
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 17 at 12:52
  • There may also be noble activities on this doomsday. Freddie Mercury sang 'Love me like there's no tomorrow Hold me in your arms, tell me you mean it This is our last goodbye and very soon it will be over But today just love me like there's no tomorrow'
    – Seowjooheng Singapore
    Commented Jun 17 at 15:50

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A person who is engaged in some activity "like there was no tomorrow" has wholly given themselves over to the activity and has no concern for consequences; they are doing it fervidly, with abandon. They're acting as though it is their last chance on earth to do it.

Thus, you wouldn't say, for example:

He was cramming for the exam like there was no tomorrow.

The farmers were ploughing their fields like there was no tomorrow.

The horologist was repairing watches like there was no tomorrow.

The doctor was tending to patients like there was no tomorrow.

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  • I mean, if the horologist was expecting an asteroid strike to wipe out all life on earth at midnight, he might be feverishly repairing watches so that everyone would know precisely how long they had left...
    – Daniel Roseman
    Commented Jun 17 at 12:48
  • @DanielRoseman That would be a skit worthy of the Fleischer Folios.
    – TimR
    Commented Jun 17 at 13:35

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