dead
♦♦ dead /d'ed/
1 [ADJ]
A person, animal, or plant that is dead is no longer living.
Her husband's been dead a year now...
The group had shot dead another hostage.
...old newspapers and dead flowers.
≠ alive
[N-PLURAL] the N
The dead are people who are dead.
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.
...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] usu ADJ n
A dead language is no longer spoken or written as a means of communication, although it may still be studied.
We used to grumble that we were wasting time learning a dead language.
6 [ADJ] usu v-link 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.
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] ADJ n
Dead is used to mean `complete' or `absolute', especially before the words `centre', `silence', and `stop'.
They hurried about in dead silence, with anxious faces...
Lila's boat came to a dead stop.
9 [ADV] ADV prep/adv/adj
Dead means `precisely' or `exactly'.
Mars was visible, dead in the centre of the telescope...
Their arrows are dead on target...
10 [ADV] ADV adj/adv/prep
Dead is sometimes used to mean `very'. (BRIT INFORMAL, SPOKEN)
I am dead against the legalisation of drugs.
11 [CONVENTION]
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)
`Let's invite her to dinner.'--`Over my dead body!'
12 [PHRASE] v-link PHR
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.
I thought the whole business was dead and buried...
13 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you say that a person or animal dropped dead or dropped down dead, you mean that they died very suddenly and unexpectedly.
He dropped dead on the quayside.
14 [PHRASE] v-link PHR
If you say that you feel dead or are half dead, you mean that you feel very tired or ill and very weak. (INFORMAL)
You looked half dead after that journey...
15 [PHRASE]
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)
We buried it in the garden at dead of night...
16 [PHRASE] PHR prep, PHR -ing
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)
I wouldn't be seen dead in a straw hat.
17 [PHRASE] V inflects
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.
We all stopped dead and looked at it...
18 [PHRASE] v-link PHR
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.
A `no' vote would have left the treaty dead in the water.
19
to flog a dead horse: see flog
a dead loss: see loss
a dead ringer: see ringer
to stop dead in your tracks: see trackdead duck (dead ducks)
[N-COUNT]
If you describe someone or something as a dead duck, you are emphasizing that you think they have absolutely no chance of succeeding. (INFORMAL)dead end (dead ends)
1 [N-COUNT]
If a street is a dead end, there is no way out at one end of it.
2 [N-COUNT] oft N n
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.
Waitressing was a dead-end job.dead hand
[N-SING] usu the N of n
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)
...the dead hand of bureaucracy.dead heat (dead heats)
[N-COUNT]
If a race or contest is a dead 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 a dead heat.
The race ended in a dead heat between two horses...dead let|ter (dead letters)
[N-COUNT]
If you say that a law or agreement is a dead letter, you mean that it still exists but people ignore it.
No one does anything about it and the law becomes a dead letter.dead meat
[N-UNCOUNT]
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)dead weight (dead weights)
1 [N-COUNT]
A dead weight is a load which is surprisingly heavy and difficult to lift.
2 [N-COUNT] usu sing
You can refer to something that makes change or progress difficult as a dead weight.
...the dead weight of traditional policies.dead wood
[N-UNCOUNT]
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.
...the idea that historical linguistics is so much dead wood.
1 [ADJ]
A person, animal, or plant that is dead is no longer living.
Her husband's been dead a year now...
The group had shot dead another hostage.
...old newspapers and dead flowers.
≠ alive
[N-PLURAL] the N
The dead are people who are dead.
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.
...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] usu ADJ n
A dead language is no longer spoken or written as a means of communication, although it may still be studied.
We used to grumble that we were wasting time learning a dead language.
6 [ADJ] usu v-link 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.
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] ADJ n
Dead is used to mean `complete' or `absolute', especially before the words `centre', `silence', and `stop'.
They hurried about in dead silence, with anxious faces...
Lila's boat came to a dead stop.
9 [ADV] ADV prep/adv/adj
Dead means `precisely' or `exactly'.
Mars was visible, dead in the centre of the telescope...
Their arrows are dead on target...
10 [ADV] ADV adj/adv/prep
Dead is sometimes used to mean `very'. (BRIT INFORMAL, SPOKEN)
I am dead against the legalisation of drugs.
11 [CONVENTION]
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)
`Let's invite her to dinner.'--`Over my dead body!'
12 [PHRASE] v-link PHR
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.
I thought the whole business was dead and buried...
13 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you say that a person or animal dropped dead or dropped down dead, you mean that they died very suddenly and unexpectedly.
He dropped dead on the quayside.
14 [PHRASE] v-link PHR
If you say that you feel dead or are half dead, you mean that you feel very tired or ill and very weak. (INFORMAL)
You looked half dead after that journey...
15 [PHRASE]
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)
We buried it in the garden at dead of night...
16 [PHRASE] PHR prep, PHR -ing
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)
I wouldn't be seen dead in a straw hat.
17 [PHRASE] V inflects
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.
We all stopped dead and looked at it...
18 [PHRASE] v-link PHR
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.
A `no' vote would have left the treaty dead in the water.
19
to flog a dead horse: see flog
a dead loss: see loss
a dead ringer: see ringer
to stop dead in your tracks: see trackdead duck (dead ducks)
[N-COUNT]
If you describe someone or something as a dead duck, you are emphasizing that you think they have absolutely no chance of succeeding. (INFORMAL)dead end (dead ends)
1 [N-COUNT]
If a street is a dead end, there is no way out at one end of it.
2 [N-COUNT] oft N n
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.
Waitressing was a dead-end job.dead hand
[N-SING] usu the N of n
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)
...the dead hand of bureaucracy.dead heat (dead heats)
[N-COUNT]
If a race or contest is a dead 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 a dead heat.
The race ended in a dead heat between two horses...dead let|ter (dead letters)
[N-COUNT]
If you say that a law or agreement is a dead letter, you mean that it still exists but people ignore it.
No one does anything about it and the law becomes a dead letter.dead meat
[N-UNCOUNT]
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)dead weight (dead weights)
1 [N-COUNT]
A dead weight is a load which is surprisingly heavy and difficult to lift.
2 [N-COUNT] usu sing
You can refer to something that makes change or progress difficult as a dead weight.
...the dead weight of traditional policies.dead wood
[N-UNCOUNT]
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.
...the idea that historical linguistics is so much dead wood.