Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

dead       (děd)  Pronunciation Key  adj.   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. Sudden; abrupt: a dead stop. Complete; utter: dead silence. Exact; unerring. the dead center of a target. Lacking connection to a source of electric current. Drained of electric charge; discharged: a dead battery. 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. Sudden; abrupt: a dead stop. Complete; utter: dead silence. Exact; unerring. the dead center of a target. Lacking connection to a source of electric current. Drained of electric charge; discharged: a dead battery. 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. Sudden; abrupt: a dead stop. Complete; utter: dead silence. Exact; unerring. the dead center of a target. Lacking connection to a source of electric current. Drained of electric charge; discharged: a dead battery. 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. Sudden; abrupt: a dead stop. Complete; utter: dead silence. Exact; unerring. the dead center of a target. Lacking connection to a source of electric current. Drained of electric charge; discharged: a dead battery. Devoid of human or vehicular activity; quiet: a dead town. Lacking all animation, excitement, or activity; dull: The party being dead, we left early. Sudden; abrupt: a dead stop. Complete; utter: dead silence. Exact; unerring. the dead center of a target. Lacking connection to a source of electric current. Drained of electric charge; discharged: a dead battery. 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. Lacking connection to a source of electric current. Drained of electric charge; discharged: a dead battery. Sports Out of play. Used of a ball. Lacking connection to a source of electric current. Drained of electric charge; discharged: a dead battery. n.   One who has died: respect for the dead. The period exhibiting the greatest degree of intensity: the dead of winter; the dead of night. adv.   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. [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).

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
dead 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

dead
adjective
1.	no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life; "the nerve is dead"; "a dead pallor"; "he was marked as a dead man by the assassin" [ant: alive]
2.	not showing characteristics of life especially the capacity to sustain life; no longer exerting force or having energy or heat; "Mars is a dead planet"; "dead soil"; "dead coals"; "the fire is dead" [ant: live]
3.	very tired; "was all in at the end of the day"; "so beat I could flop down and go to sleep anywhere"; "bushed after all that exercise"; "I'm dead after that long trip" [syn: all in]
4.	unerringly accurate; "a dead shot"; "took dead aim"
5.	physically inactive; "Crater Lake is in the crater of a dead volcano of the Cascade Range"
6.	(followed by 'to') not showing human feeling or sensitivity; unresponsive; "passersby were dead to our plea for help"; "numb to the cries for mercy"
7.	devoid of physical sensation; numb; "his gums were dead from the novocain"; "she felt no discomfort as the dentist drilled her deadened tooth"; "a public desensitized by continuous television coverage of atrocities"
8.	lacking acoustic resonance; "dead sounds characteristic of some compact discs"; "the dead wall surfaces of a recording studio"
9.	not yielding a return; "dead capital"; "idle funds"
10.	not circulating or flowing; "dead air"; "dead water"; "stagnant water"
11.	not surviving in active use; "Latin is a dead language"
12.	lacking resilience or bounce; "a dead tennis ball"
13.	out of use or operation because of a fault or breakdown; "a dead telephone line"; "the motor is dead"
14.	no longer having force or relevance; "a dead issue"
15.	complete; "came to a dead stop"; "utter seriousness"
16.	drained of electric charge; discharged; "a dead battery"; "left the lights on and came back to find the battery drained"
17.	devoid of activity; "this is a dead town; nothing ever happens here"
adverb
1.	quickly and without warning; "he stopped suddenly" [syn: abruptly]
2.	completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers; "an absolutely magnificent painting"; "a perfectly idiotic idea"; "you're perfectly right"; "utterly miserable"; "you can be dead sure of my innocence"; "was dead tired"; "dead right" [syn: absolutely]
noun
1.	people who are no longer living; "they buried the dead" [ant: living]
2.	a time when coldness (or some other quality associated with death) is intense; "the dead of winter"

American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

dead (děd)
adj.

1. Having lost life; no longer alive.
2. Lacking feeling or sensitivity; unresponsive.

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

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]

Jargon File - Cite This Source - Share This

dead

adj.
1. Non-functional; down; crashed. Especially used of hardware.
2. At XEROX PARC, software that is working but not undergoing continued development and support.
3. Useless; inaccessible. Antonym: `live'. Compare dead code.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dead

Dead\ (d[e^]d), a. [OE. ded, dead, deed, AS. de['a]d; akin to OS. d[=o]d, D. dood, G. todt, tot, Icel. dau[eth]r, Sw. & Dan. d["o]d, Goth. daubs; prop. p. p. of an old verb meaning to die. See Die, and cf. Death.]

1. Deprived of life; -- opposed to alive and living; reduced to that state of a being in which the organs of motion and life have irrevocably ceased to perform their functions; as, a dead tree; a dead man. "The queen, my lord, is dead." --Shak.

The crew, all except himself, were dead of hunger. --Arbuthnot.

Seek him with candle, bring him dead or living. --Shak.

2. Destitute of life; inanimate; as, dead matter.

3. Resembling death in appearance or quality; without show of life; deathlike; as, a dead sleep.

4. Still as death; motionless; inactive; useless; as, dead calm; a dead load or weight.

5. So constructed as not to transmit sound; soundless; as, a dead floor.

6. Unproductive; bringing no gain; unprofitable; as, dead capital; dead stock in trade.

7. Lacking spirit; dull; lusterless; cheerless; as, dead eye; dead fire; dead color, etc.

8. Monotonous or unvaried; as, a dead level or pain; a dead wall. "The ground is a dead flat." --C. Reade.

9. Sure as death; unerring; fixed; complete; as, a dead shot; a dead certainty.

I had them a dead bargain. --Goldsmith.

10. Bringing death; deadly. --Shak.

11. Wanting in religious spirit and vitality; as, dead faith; dead works. "Dead in trespasses." --Eph. ii. 1.

12. (Paint.) (a) Flat; without gloss; -- said of painting which has been applied purposely to have this effect. (b) Not brilliant; not rich; thus, brown is a dead color, as compared with crimson.

13. (Law) Cut off from the rights of a citizen; deprived of the power of enjoying the rights of property; as, one banished or becoming a monk is civilly dead.

14. (Mach.) Not imparting motion or power; as, the dead spindle of a lathe, etc. See Spindle.

Dead ahead (Naut.), directly ahead; -- said of a ship or any object, esp. of the wind when blowing from that point toward which a vessel would go.

Dead angle (Mil.), an angle or space which can not be seen or defended from behind the parapet.

Dead block, either of two wooden or iron blocks intended to serve instead of buffers at the end of a freight car.

Dead calm (Naut.), no wind at all.

Dead center, or Dead point (Mach.), either of two points in the orbit of a crank, at which the crank and connecting rod lie a straight line. It corresponds to the end of a stroke; as, A and B are dead centers of the crank mechanism in which the crank C drives, or is driven by, the lever L.

Dead color (Paint.), a color which has no gloss upon it.

Dead coloring (Oil paint.), the layer of colors, the preparation for what is to follow. In modern painting this is usually in monochrome.

Dead door (Shipbuilding), a storm shutter fitted to the outside of the quarter-gallery door.

Dead flat (Naut.), the widest or midship frame.

Dead freight (Mar. Law), a sum of money paid by a person who charters a whole vessel but fails to make out a full cargo. The payment is made for the unoccupied capacity. --Abbott.

Dead ground (Mining), the portion of a vein in which there is no ore.

Dead hand, a hand that can not alienate, as of a person civilly dead. "Serfs held in dead hand." --Morley. See Mortmain.

Dead head (Naut.), a rough block of wood used as an anchor buoy.

Dead heat, a heat or course between two or more race horses, boats, etc., in which they come out exactly equal, so that neither wins.

Dead horse, an expression applied to a debt for wages paid in advance. [Law]

Dead language, a language which is no longer spoken or in common use by a people, and is known only in writings, as the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

Dead letter. (a) A letter which, after lying for a certain fixed time uncalled for at the post office to which it was directed, is then sent to the general post office to be opened. (b) That which has lost its force or authority; as, the law has become a dead letter.

Dead-letter office, a department of the general post office where dead letters are examined and disposed of.

Dead level, a term applied to a flat country.

Dead lift, a direct lift, without assistance from mechanical advantage, as from levers, pulleys, etc.; hence, an extreme emergency. "(As we say) at a dead lift." --Robynson (More's Utopia).

Dead line (Mil.), a line drawn within or around a military prison, to cross which involves for a prisoner the penalty of being instantly shot.

Dead load (Civil Engin.), a constant, motionless load, as the weight of a structure, in distinction from a moving load, as a train of cars, or a variable pressure, as of wind.

Dead march (Mus.), a piece of solemn music intended to be played as an accompaniment to a funeral procession.

Dead nettle (Bot.), a harmless plant with leaves like a nettle (Lamium album).

Dead oil (Chem.), the heavy oil obtained in the distillation of coal tar, and containing phenol, naphthalus, etc.

Dead plate (Mach.), a solid covering over a part of a fire grate, to prevent the entrance of air through that part.

Dead pledge, a mortgage. See Mortgage.

Dead point. (Mach.) See Dead center.

Dead reckoning (Naut.), the method of determining the place of a ship from a record kept of the courses sailed as given by compass, and the distance made on each course as found by log, with allowance for leeway, etc., without the aid of celestial observations.

Dead rise, the transverse upward curvature of a vessel's floor.

Dead rising, an elliptical line drawn on the sheer plan to determine the sweep of the floorheads throughout the ship's length.

Dead-Sea apple. See under Apple.

Dead set. See under Set.

Dead shot. (a) An unerring marksman. (b) A shot certain to be made.

Dead smooth, the finest cut made; -- said of files.

Dead wall (Arch.), a blank wall unbroken by windows or other openings.

Dead water (Naut.), the eddy water closing in under a ship's stern when sailing.

Dead weight. (a) A heavy or oppressive burden. --Dryden. (b) (Shipping) A ship's lading, when it consists of heavy goods; or, the heaviest part of a ship's cargo. (c) (Railroad) The weight of rolling stock, the live weight being the load. --Knight.

Dead wind (Naut.), a wind directly ahead, or opposed to the ship's course.

To be dead, to die. [Obs.]

I deme thee, thou must algate be dead. --Chaucer.

Syn: Inanimate; deceased; extinct. See Lifeless.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dead

Dead\, adv. To a degree resembling death; to the last degree; completely; wholly. [Colloq.]

I was tired of reading, and dead sleepy. --Dickens.

Dead drunk, so drunk as to be unconscious.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dead

Dead\, n. 1. The most quiet or deathlike time; the period of profoundest repose, inertness, or gloom; as, the dead of winter.

When the drum beat at dead of night. --Campbell.

2. One who is dead; -- commonly used collectively.

And Abraham stood up from before his dead. --Gen. xxiii. 3.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dead

Dead\, v. t. To make dead; to deaden; to deprive of life, force, or vigor. [Obs.]

Heaven's stern decree, With many an ill, hath numbed and deaded me. --Chapman.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dead

Dead\, v. i. To die; to lose life or force. [Obs.]

So iron, as soon as it is out of the fire, deadeth straightway. --Bacon.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dead

Dead\, a. 1. (Elec.) Carrying no current, or producing no useful effect; -- said of a conductor in a dynamo or motor, also of a telegraph wire which has no instrument attached and, therefore, is not in use.

2. Out of play; regarded as out of the game; -- said of a ball, a piece, or a player under certain conditions in cricket, baseball, checkers, and some other games.

[In golf], a ball is said to lie dead when it lies so near the hole that the player is certain to hole it in the next stroke. --Encyc. of Sport.