dead
1 adj A person, animal, or plant that is dead is no longer living., (Antonym: alive)
Her husband's been dead a year now..., The group had shot dead another hostage., ...old newspapers and dead flowers.
The dead are people who are dead., n-plural the N
The dead included six people attending a religious ceremony.
2 adj If you describe a place or a period of time as dead, you do not like it because there is very little activity taking place in it., (disapproval)
...some dead little town where the liveliest thing is the flies...
3 adj Something that is dead is no longer being used or is finished.
The dead cigarette was still between his fingers...
4 adj If you say that an idea, plan, or subject is dead, you mean that people are no longer interested in it or willing to develop it any further.
It's a dead issue, Baxter...
5 adj A dead language is no longer spoken or written as a means of communication, although it may still be studied.
usu ADJ n
We used to grumble that we were wasting time learning a dead language.
6 adj A telephone or piece of electrical equipment that is dead is no longer functioning, for example because it no longer has any electrical power.
usu v-link ADJ
On another occasion I answered the phone and the line went dead.
7 adj In sport, when a ball is dead, it has gone outside the playing area, or a situation has occurred in which the game has to be temporarily stopped, and none of the players can score points or gain an advantage. (JOURNALISM)
8 adj Dead is used to mean `complete' or `absolute', especially before the words `centre', `silence', and `stop'.
ADJ n (emphasis)
They hurried about in dead silence, with anxious faces..., Lila's boat came to a dead stop.
9 adv Dead means `precisely' or `exactly'.
ADV prep/adv/adj (emphasis)
Mars was visible, dead in the centre of the telescope..., Their arrows are dead on target...
10 adv Dead is sometimes used to mean `very'.
(BRIT)
INFORMAL, SPOKEN ADV adj/adv/prep (emphasis)
I am dead against the legalisation of drugs.
11 If you reply `Over my dead body' when a plan or action has been suggested, you are emphasizing that you dislike it, and will do everything you can to prevent it.
INFORMAL
over my dead body convention
(emphasis)
`Let's invite her to dinner.'—`Over my dead body!'
12 If you say that something such as an idea or situation is dead and buried, you are emphasizing that you think that it is completely finished or past, and cannot happen or exist again in the future.
dead and buried phrase v-link PHR (emphasis)
I thought the whole business was dead and buried...
13 If you say that a person or animal dropped dead or dropped down dead, you mean that they died very suddenly and unexpectedly.
drop (down) dead phrase V inflects
He dropped dead on the quayside.
14 If you say that you feel dead or are half dead, you mean that you feel very tired or ill and very weak.
INFORMAL
be/feel/look (half) dead phrase v-link PHR (emphasis)
You looked half dead after that journey...
15 If something happens in the dead of night, at dead of night, or in the dead of winter, it happens in the middle part of the night or the winter, when it is darkest or coldest.
LITERARY
at/in (the) dead of (the) night/winter phrase
We buried it in the garden at dead of night...
16 If you say that you wouldn't be seen dead or be caught dead in particular clothes, places, or situations, you are expressing strong dislike or disapproval of them.
INFORMAL
wouldn't be seen/caught dead phrase PHR prep, PHR -ing (emphasis)
I wouldn't be seen dead in a straw hat.
17 To stop dead means to suddenly stop happening or moving. To stop someone or something dead means to cause them to suddenly stop happening or moving.
stop dead, stop sb dead phrase V inflects
We all stopped dead and looked at it...
18 If you say that someone or something is dead in the water, you are emphasizing that they have failed, and that there is little hope of them being successful in the future.
dead in the water phrase v-link PHR (emphasis)
A `no' vote would have left the treaty dead in the water.
19 →
to flog a dead horse →
flog →
a dead loss →
loss →
a dead ringer →
ringer →
to stop dead in your tracks →
track
brain-dead , brain dead, braindead
1 adj If someone is declared brain-dead, they have suffered brain death.
2 adj If you say that someone is brain-dead, you are saying in a cruel way that you think they are very stupid., (disapproval)
dead-beat , dead beat
If you are dead-beat, you are very tired and have no energy left.
INFORMAL adj v-link ADJ
(=shattered)
dead duck (dead ducks plural )If you describe someone or something as a dead duck, you are emphasizing that you think they have absolutely no chance of succeeding.
INFORMAL n-count
(emphasis)
dead end (dead ends plural )
1 n-count If a street is a dead end, there is no way out at one end of it.
2 n-count A dead end job or course of action is one that you think is bad because it does not lead to further developments or progress.
oft N n
Waitressing was a dead-end job.
dead hand
You can refer to the dead hand of a particular thing when that thing has a bad or depressing influence on a particular situation.
(mainly BRIT) n-sing usu the N of n
...the dead hand of bureaucracy.
dead-head (dead-heads plural & 3rd person present) (dead-heading present participle) (dead-headed past tense & past participle ), deadhead
1 verb To dead-head a plant which is flowering means to remove all the dead flowers from it.
(BRIT)
Dead-head roses as the blooms fade. V n
2 n-count If you say that someone is a deadhead, you mean that they are stupid or slow.
(AM)
INFORMAL
dead heat (dead heats plural )If a race or contest is adead heat, two or more competitors are joint winners, or are both winning at a particular moment in the race or contest. In American English, you can say that a race or contest is in adead heat. n-count
The race ended in a dead heat between two horses...
dead letter (dead letters plural )If you say that a law or agreement is a dead letter, you mean that it still exists but people ignore it. n-count
No one does anything about it and the law becomes a dead letter.
dead meat
If you say that someone is dead meat, you mean that they are in very serious trouble that may result in them being hurt or injured in some way.
INFORMAL, SPOKEN n-uncount
dead weight (dead weights plural )
1 n-count A dead weight is a load which is surprisingly heavy and difficult to lift.
2 n-count You can refer to something that makes change or progress difficult as a dead weight.
usu sing
...the dead weight of traditional policies.
dead wood
People or things that have been used for a very long time and that are no longer considered to be useful can be referred to as dead wood. n-uncount
(disapproval)
...the idea that historical linguistics is so much dead wood.
drop-dead
If you describe someone as, for example, drop-dead gorgeous, you mean that they are so gorgeous that people cannot fail to notice them.
INFORMAL adv ADV adj
She said that Campbell-Black was drop-dead gorgeous...
Drop-dead is also an adjective., adj ADJ n
...the drop-dead glamour of the designer decade.
stone-dead
If you kill something such as an idea or emotion stone-dead, you completely destroy it.
kill sth stone-dead phrase V inflects (emphasis)
The prospect of having to pay a graduate tax until retirement would kill the students' enthusiasm stone dead.
