dead weight

or deadweight

See synonyms for dead weight on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the heavy, unrelieved weight of anything inert: The dead weight of the bear's body was over 300 pounds.

  2. a heavy or oppressive burden or responsibility.

  1. the weight of a railroad car, truck, etc., as distinct from its load or contents.

Origin of dead weight

1
First recorded in 1650–60

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dead weight in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for dead weight

dead weight

noun
  1. a heavy weight or load

  2. an oppressive burden; encumbrance

  1. the difference between the loaded and the unloaded weights of a ship

  2. another name for dead load

  3. (in shipping) freight chargeable by weight rather than by bulk

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with dead weight

dead weight

A heavy or oppressive burden, as in That police record will be a dead weight on his career. This term alludes to the unrelieved weight of an inert mass. [Early 1700s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.