1.) To escape
fatality, usually implying exceptional
luck or
daring.
2.) In
RPGs, where
resurrection spells may abound, may be said of a character who is killed and then restored to life. (Being raised as an
undead is
not cheating Death.) In some high-powered games, a character may forge a personal
escape route from the
Afterlife. Permanently neutralizing such a character is a
quest in itself.
3.)
Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser and
Jack of the Lantern are two hero-stories that exemplify the theme of characters "cheating" an incarnate representation of Death. The
moral differs, but in each case, the hero gains power over
death/fate by tricking it.