deep-sixes

deep-six

[deep-siks]
verb (used with object) Slang.
1.
to throw overboard.
2.
to get rid of; abandon; discard.
3.
to reject, negate, or ruin: The team deep-sixed the manager's attempt to call Sunday practice.
Origin:
1950–55; v. use of deep six

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
deep-six
 
—vb
slang (US) (tr) to dispose of (something, such as documents) completely; destroy
 
[C20: from six feet deep, the traditional depth for a grave]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Relevant Questions
00:10
Deep-sixes is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

deep six
"discard," 1940s, originally from nautical slang, perhaps from earlier underworld sense of "the grave" (1929), perhaps a reference to the usual grave depth of six feet.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

deep-six definition


To dispose of, discard, or get rid of: “The board of directors deep-sixed the proposal without even reading it.” This phrase is derived from the noun “deep six,” meaning burial at sea and referring to the depth of water necessary for such a burial. The term was later used as slang for a grave (customarily six feet underground) and, by extension, as a verb meaning “to kill.”

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary

deep six definition


  1. tv.
    to jettison something, including a corpse, from a ship at sea. (Usually deep-six as a verb.) : They deep-sixed the body of the first mate, who had died of the shakes.
  2. n.
    the deep sixburial at sea. (Always with the in this sense.) : I think I'd want the deep six, but I'll probably kick off on dry land.
  3. tv.
    to kill or dispose of someone. (Underworld. Usually deep-six as a verb.) : The thugs tried to deep-six the witness, but failed.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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