also d.o.a., 1929, police slang abbreviation of dead on arrival.
DOA abbr.
dead on admission
dead on arrival
Invalid and rejected: The President's budget was dead on arrival even before it got to Congress (1980s+)
Dead on arrival
noun: Don't risk being a DOA by driving drunk
jargon
Dead on arrival. A piece of hardware that has never worked.
(2000-12-19)