[n. ded-beet; adj. ded-beet] 
| 1. | a person who deliberately avoids paying debts. |
| 2. | a loafer; sponger. |
| 3. | being a parent who neglects parental responsibilities, esp. one who does not pay child support: deadbeat dads. |
| 4. | Horology. noting any of various escapements acting without recoil of the locking parts from the shock of contact. |
| 5. | Electricity. (of the indicator of an electric meter and the like) coming to a stop with little or no oscillation. |
dead beat
Defeated; also exhausted. For example, That horse was dead beat before the race even began, or, as Charles Dickens put it in Martin Chuzzlewit (1843): "Pull off my boots for me ... I am quite knocked up. Dead beat." [Slang; first half of 1800s]
Also, deadbeat. A lazy person or loafer; also, one who does not pay debts. For example, Her housemate knew she was a deadbeat, shirking her share of the chores, or He's a deadbeat; don't count on getting that money back. [Slang; second half of 1800s]
