Etymology

Noun

1. Death, such as from heart attack or stroke, brought on by overwork or job-related stress.
   • 1976, Bill Henderson, The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, Pushcart Press, page 207:

     For a while he began to speak Japanese, rather slangy, never having seemed to learn it — karoshi for death from overwork, yakitaori-ya for eatery, and gaijin for clumsy foreigner.