dead
(d
d)
KEY
ADJECTIVE:
dead·er
,
dead·est
- Having lost life; no longer alive.
- Marked for certain death; doomed:
was marked as a dead man by the assassin.
-
- Having the physical appearance of death:
a dead pallor.
- Lacking feeling or sensitivity; numb or unresponsive:
Passersby were dead to our pleas for help.
- Weary and worn-out; exhausted.
-
- Not having the capacity to live; inanimate or inert.
- Not having the capacity to produce or sustain life; barren:
dead soil.
-
- No longer in existence, use, or operation.
- No longer having significance or relevance.
- Physically inactive; dormant:
a dead volcano.
-
- Not commercially productive; idle:
dead capital.
- Not circulating or running; stagnant:
dead water; dead air.
-
- Devoid of human or vehicular activity; quiet:
a dead town.
- Lacking all animation, excitement, or activity; dull:
The party being dead, we left early.
- Having no resonance. Used of sounds:
"One characteristic of compact discs we all can hear is dead sound. It may be pure but it has no life"
(Musical Heritage Review).
- Having grown cold; having been extinguished:
dead coals; a dead flame.
- Lacking elasticity or bounce:
That tennis ball is dead.
- Out of operation because of a fault or breakdown:
The motor is dead.
-
- Sudden; abrupt:
a dead stop.
- Complete; utter:
dead silence.
- Exact; unerring.
the dead center of a target.
-
Sports
Out of play. Used of a ball.
-
- Lacking connection to a source of electric current.
- Drained of electric charge; discharged:
a dead battery.
NOUN:
- One who has died:
respect for the dead.
- The period exhibiting the greatest degree of intensity:
the dead of winter; the dead of night.
ADVERB:
- Absolutely; altogether:
You can be dead sure of my innocence.
- Directly; exactly:
There's a gas station dead ahead.
- Suddenly:
She stopped dead on the stairway.
IDIOMS:
dead and buried
- No longer in use or under consideration:
All past animosities are dead and buried now.
dead in the water
- Unable to function or move:
The crippled ship was dead in the water. With no leadership, the project was dead in the water.
dead to rights
- In the very act of making an error or committing a crime:
The police caught the thief dead to rights with my silverware.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English
ded, from Old English
d
ad; see
dheu-
2 in Indo-European roots
OTHER FORMS:
dead
ness
(Noun)
SYNONYMS:
dead
, deceased
, departed
, extinct
, lifeless
, inanimate
These adjectives all mean without life.
Dead applies in general to whatever once had
but no longer has
physical life (
a dead man; a dead leaf), function (
a dead battery), or force or currency (
a dead issue; a dead language).
Deceased and
departed refer only to nonliving humans:
attended a memorial service for a recently deceased friend; looking at pictures of departed relatives.
Extinct can refer to what has no living successors (
extinct species such as the dodo) or to what is extinguished or inactive (
an extinct volcano).
Lifeless applies to what no longer has physical life (
a lifeless body), to what does not support life (
a lifeless planet), or to what lacks animation, spirit, or brightness (
a lifeless performance; lifeless colors).
Inanimate is most often limited to what has never had physical life:
"The anchored gunboat simply would not sink. It evinced that unnatural stubbornness which is sometimes displayed by inanimate objects"
(Stephen Crane).
