An expression in English that would describe an act of saving a person from a near death

Question

Is there any expression in English that would describe an act of literally saving someone from near death?

I am especially interested in an expression that would use the word "noose".

This dictionary gives such expressions like "the noose is hanging", "put (one's) head in a noose", and "stick your head in a noose"; so, they all describe a situation, in which someone is near death, but they don't describe an act of saving someone from that situation.

An example sentence would be:

Yesterday we entered the room and saw him standing on a chair ready to hang himself. So, without thinking much, we went ahead and _____________ .

Answer 1

"The noose is hanging" is a strange phrase that I've never heard, but it could perhaps be used properly given the proper context. Note that this context is almost certainly never literal. I'd imagine it used in the context where a trap has been set for someone, but not usually one which results in their death.

One of the examples for it sounds very strange to me:

I prepped the lab for the experiment, so the noose is hanging, whenever you want to begin.

I can't imagine anyone saying this in this context. This sounds like an antiquated phrase.

As for "put (one's) head in a noose" and "stick your head in a noose," both of the example sentences you link sound very strange. I'd contend that in modern US English, most people would use "shot in the foot."

So instead of:

He had a real shot at winning the election, but he put his head in the noose with such inflammatory remarks.

I'd prefer:

He had a real shot at winning the election, but he shot himself in the foot with such inflammatory remarks.

This phrase is meant to convey carelessness on the subject's part that inflicts damage to them.

Note that in the original, it actually said "put his head in the noose in the foot" (which is nonsense). This suggests that at one point the phrase was (or was supposed to be) "shot himself in the foot" anyway.

For the second example, I'd use "stick their neck out" instead of "put their head in the noose". So instead of:

Everyone knew the idea was bad, but no one was willing to put their head in the noose and criticize it during the meeting.

I'd say:

Everyone knew the idea was bad, but no one was willing to stick their neck out and criticize it during the meeting.

Here the phrase does somewhat evoke imagery of executions. It (hyperbolically) suggests that someone would be willing to risk being executed by the guillotine to do something. Although, everyday usage is never that literal.

Hopefully, you see the pattern here that phrases like this are rarely used that literally.

For your context (and given your other question about words surrounding a suicide), I'd suggest the phrase "talked down from the ledge" to indicate saving someone from a suicide.

If the near death incident is some sort of bodily harm (particularly an illness), I'd use "nursed back to health:"

The flu nearly killed the child, but her parents nursed her back to health.

You may also use the phrase "guardian angel" to describe such a person who saves someone from near death.

But, I don't think you'll come across many phrases that uses "noose" so literally.

Answer 2

There’s the expression saved from the jaws of death (and its variants).

Macmillan explains:

in the jaws of something (phrase) in an extremely unpleasant emotional state or in a frightening, dangerous situation : in the jaws of defeat/madness

while M-W states:

jaws of death (noun phrase) dying or being killed : He barely escaped from the jaws of death.

Although I think the Know Your Phrase website explains the idiom best:

Jaws of Death
Meaning: Death or a deadly situation. This phrase is sometimes said as "out of the jaws of death," and it's frequently used to mean a person escaped from a very dangerous situation.

The phrase is often preceded by a dramatic verb, such as plucked or snatched, and TFD even lists the idiom as:

be snatched from the jaws of death
To be rescued at the last moment from near or certain death. The drowning fishermen were snatched from the jaws of death by a passing cruise ship.

The expression was used in the opening of a news story on a website:

This is the moment a man was plucked from the jaws of death by a lifeboat crew in a dramatic night-time river rescue.