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DEAD

 - 9 dictionary results

dead

  [ded] adjective, -er, -est, noun, adverb
Use DEAD in a Sentence
–adjective
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 no longer current or prevalent, as in effect, significance, or practice; obsolete: a dead law; a dead controversy.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. Electricity.
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. Metallurgy. (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.
–noun
36. the period of greatest darkness, coldness, etc.: the dead of night; the dead of winter.
37. the dead, dead persons collectively: Prayers were recited for the dead.
–adverb
38. absolutely; completely: dead right; dead tired.
39. with sudden and total stoppage of motion, action, or the like: He stopped dead.
40. directly; exactly; straight: The island lay dead ahead.
—Idioms
41. 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.
42. dead to rights, in the very act of committing a crime, offense, or mistake; red-handed.
Origin:
bef. 950; ME deed, OE dēad; c. Goth dauths, G tot, ON daudhr; orig. ptp. See die 1

Related forms:
deadness, noun

Synonyms:
1. Dead, deceased, extinct, lifeless refer to something that does not have or appear to have life. Dead is usually applied to something that had life but from which life is now gone: dead trees. Deceased, a more formal word than dead, is applied to human beings who no longer have life: a deceased member of the church. Extinct is applied to a race, species, or the like, no member of which is any longer alive: Mastodons are now extinct. Lifeless is applied to something that may or may not have had life but that does not have it or appear to have it now: The lifeless body of a child was taken out of the water. Minerals consist of lifeless materials. 6. unfeeling, indifferent, callous, cold. 10. inert, inoperative. 11. still, motionless. 16. utter, entire, total. 20. sterile.

Antonyms:
1. living, alive.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To DEAD
dead   (děd)   
adj.   dead·er, dead·est

  1. Having lost life; no longer alive.

  2. Marked for certain death; doomed: was marked as a dead man by the assassin.

    1. Having the physical appearance of death: a dead pallor.

    2. Lacking feeling or sensitivity; numb or unresponsive: Passersby were dead to our pleas for help.

    3. Weary and worn-out; exhausted.

    4. Not having the capacity to live; inanimate or inert.

    5. Not having the capacity to produce or sustain life; barren: dead soil.

    6. No longer in existence, use, or operation.

    7. No longer having significance or relevance.

    8. Physically inactive; dormant: a dead volcano.

    9. Not commercially productive; idle: dead capital.

    10. Not circulating or running; stagnant: dead water; dead air.

    11. Devoid of human or vehicular activity; quiet: a dead town.

    12. Lacking all animation, excitement, or activity; dull: The party being dead, we left early.

    13. Sudden; abrupt: a dead stop.

    14. Complete; utter: dead silence.

    15. Exact; unerring. the dead center of a target.

    16. Lacking connection to a source of electric current.

    17. Drained of electric charge; discharged: a dead battery.

    1. Not having the capacity to live; inanimate or inert.

    2. Not having the capacity to produce or sustain life; barren: dead soil.

    3. No longer in existence, use, or operation.

    4. No longer having significance or relevance.

    5. Physically inactive; dormant: a dead volcano.

    6. Not commercially productive; idle: dead capital.

    7. Not circulating or running; stagnant: dead water; dead air.

    8. Devoid of human or vehicular activity; quiet: a dead town.

    9. Lacking all animation, excitement, or activity; dull: The party being dead, we left early.

    10. Sudden; abrupt: a dead stop.

    11. Complete; utter: dead silence.

    12. Exact; unerring. the dead center of a target.

    13. Lacking connection to a source of electric current.

    14. Drained of electric charge; discharged: a dead battery.

    1. No longer in existence, use, or operation.

    2. No longer having significance or relevance.

    3. Physically inactive; dormant: a dead volcano.

    4. Not commercially productive; idle: dead capital.

    5. Not circulating or running; stagnant: dead water; dead air.

    6. Devoid of human or vehicular activity; quiet: a dead town.

    7. Lacking all animation, excitement, or activity; dull: The party being dead, we left early.

    8. Sudden; abrupt: a dead stop.

    9. Complete; utter: dead silence.

    10. Exact; unerring. the dead center of a target.

    11. Lacking connection to a source of electric current.

    12. Drained of electric charge; discharged: a dead battery.

    1. Not commercially productive; idle: dead capital.

    2. Not circulating or running; stagnant: dead water; dead air.

    3. Devoid of human or vehicular activity; quiet: a dead town.

    4. Lacking all animation, excitement, or activity; dull: The party being dead, we left early.

    5. Sudden; abrupt: a dead stop.

    6. Complete; utter: dead silence.

    7. Exact; unerring. the dead center of a target.

    8. Lacking connection to a source of electric current.

    9. Drained of electric charge; discharged: a dead battery.

    1. Devoid of human or vehicular activity; quiet: a dead town.

    2. Lacking all animation, excitement, or activity; dull: The party being dead, we left early.

    3. Sudden; abrupt: a dead stop.

    4. Complete; utter: dead silence.

    5. Exact; unerring. the dead center of a target.

    6. Lacking connection to a source of electric current.

    7. Drained of electric charge; discharged: a dead battery.

  8. 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).

  9. Having grown cold; having been extinguished: dead coals; a dead flame.

  10. Lacking elasticity or bounce: That tennis ball is dead.

  11. Out of operation because of a fault or breakdown: The motor is dead.

    1. Sudden; abrupt: a dead stop.

    2. Complete; utter: dead silence.

    3. Exact; unerring. the dead center of a target.

    4. Lacking connection to a source of electric current.

    5. Drained of electric charge; discharged: a dead battery.

  13. Sports Out of play. Used of a ball.

    1. Lacking connection to a source of electric current.

    2. Drained of electric charge; discharged: a dead battery.

n.  

  1. One who has died: respect for the dead.

  2. The period exhibiting the greatest degree of intensity: the dead of winter; the dead of night.

adv.  

  1. Absolutely; altogether: You can be dead sure of my innocence.

  2. Directly; exactly: There's a gas station dead ahead.

  3. Suddenly: She stopped dead on the stairway.


[Middle English ded, from Old English dēad; see dheu-2 in Indo-European roots.]
dead'ness n.
Synonyms: 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).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
dead

  1. mod.
    quiet and uneventful; boring. : The day was totally dead.
  2. mod.
    very tired. : I went home from the office, dead as usual.
  3. mod.
    dull; lifeless; flat. : This meal is sort of dead because I am out of onions.
  4. mod.
    no longer effective; no longer of any consequence. : That guy is dead—out of power.
  5. mod.
    [of an issue] no longer germane; no longer of any importance. : Forget it! It's a dead issue.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

dead 
O.E. dead, from P.Gmc. *dauthaz, from PIE *dheu-. Meaning "insensible" is first attested c.1225. Of places, meaning "inactive, dull," it is recorded from 1581. Used from 16c. in adj. sense of "utter, absolute, quite." Dead heat is from 1796. Dead reckoning may be from nautical abbreviation ded. ("deduced") in log books, but it also fits dead (adj.) in the sense of "unrelieved, absolute." Dead man's hand in poker, pair of aces and pair of eights, supposedly what Wild Bill Hickock held when Jack McCall shot him in 1876. Dead soldier "emptied liquor bottle" is military slang from 1913. Dead on is 1889, from marksmanship; dead drunk first attested 1599; dead duck is from 1844. Dead letter is from 1703, used of laws lacking force as well as uncollected mail; dead end is from 1886. Phrase in the dead of the night first recorded 1548. Dead Sea is L. Mare Mortum, Gk. he nekra thalassa (Aristotle); its water is 26 percent salt (as opposed to 3 or 4 percent in most oceans) and supports practically no life.
"For but ich haue bote of mi bale I am ded as dorenail" (c.1350).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1dead
Pronunciation: 'ded
Function: adjective
1 : deprived of life : having died <dead of scarlet fever>
2 : lacking power to move, feel, or respond : NUMB

Main Entry: 2dead
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural dead
: one that is dead —usually used collectively
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

dead (děd)
adj.

  1. Having lost life; no longer alive.

  2. Lacking feeling or sensitivity; unresponsive.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Computing Dictionary

dead
1. Non-functional; down; crashed. Especially used of hardware.
2. At XEROX PARC, software that is working but not undergoing continued development and support.
[The Jargon File]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Idioms & Phrases

dead

In addition to the idioms beginning with dead, also see beat a dead horse; caught dead; cut someone dead; drop dead; knock dead; more dead than alive; over my dead body; quick and the dead; stop cold (dead); to wake the dead. Also see under death.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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