Dictionary
dead
Pronunciation: (ded), [key]
—adj., -er, -est,
—n., adv.
—
adj.
1. no longer living; deprived of life:
dead people; dead flowers; dead animals.
2. brain-dead.
3. not endowed with life; inanimate:
dead stones.
4. resembling death; deathlike:
a dead sleep; a dead faint.
5. bereft of sensation; numb:
He was half dead with fright. My leg feels dead.
6. lacking sensitivity of feeling; insensitive:
dead to the needs of others.
7. incapable of being emotionally moved; unresponsive:
dead to the nuances of the music.
8. (of an emotion) no longer felt; ended; extinguished:
a dead passion; dead affections.
9. no longer current or prevalent, as in effect, significance, or practice; obsolete:
a dead law; a dead controversy.
10. no longer functioning, operating, or productive:
a dead motor; a dead battery.
11. not moving or circulating; stagnant; stale:
dead water; dead air.
12. utterly tired; exhausted:
They felt dead from the six-hour trip.
13. (of a language) no longer in use as a sole means of oral communication among a people:
Latin is a dead language.
14. without vitality, spirit, enthusiasm, or the like:
a dead party.
15. lacking the customary activity; dull; inactive:
a dead business day.
16. complete; absolute:
dead silence; The plan was a dead loss.
17. sudden or abrupt, as the complete stoppage of an action:
The bus came to a dead stop.
18. put out; extinguished:
a dead cigarette.
19. without resilience or bounce:
a dead tennis ball.
20. infertile; barren:
dead land.
21. exact; precise:
the dead center of a circle.
22. accurate; sure; unerring:
a dead shot.
23. direct; straight:
a dead line.
24. tasteless or flat, as a beverage:
a dead soft drink.
25. flat rather than glossy, bright, or brilliant:
The house was painted dead white.
26. without resonance; anechoic:
dead sound; a dead wall surface of a recording studio.
27. not fruitful; unproductive:
dead capital.
28. Law.deprived of civil rights so that one is in the state of civil death, esp. deprived of the rights of property.
29. Sports.out of play:
a dead ball.
30. (of a golf ball) lying so close to the hole as to make holing on the next stroke a virtual certainty.
31. (of type or copy) having been used or rejected.
32. Elect.
a. free from any electric connection to a source of potential difference and from electric charge.
b. not having a potential different from that of the earth.
33. Metall.(of steel)
a. fully killed.
b. unresponsive to heat treatment.
34. (of the mouth of a horse) no longer sensitive to the pressure of a bit.
35. noting any rope in a tackle that does not pass over a pulley or is not rove through a block.
36. dead in the water, completely inactive or inoperable; no longer in action or under consideration:
Our plans to expand the business have been dead in the water for the past two months.
37. dead to rights, in the very act of committing a crime, offense, or mistake; red-handed.
—
n.
1. the period of greatest darkness, coldness, etc.:
the dead of night; the dead of winter.
2. the dead,dead persons collectively:
Prayers were recited for the dead.
—
adv.
1. absolutely; completely:
dead right; dead tired.
2. with sudden and total stoppage of motion, action, or the like:
He stopped dead.
3. directly; exactly; straight:
The island lay dead ahead. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
