dead

[ded] /dɛd/
adjective, deader, deadest.
1.
no longer living; deprived of life:
dead people; dead flowers; dead animals.
2.
brain-dead.
3.
not endowed with life; inanimate:
dead stones.
4.
resembling death; deathlike:
a dead sleep; a dead faint.
5.
bereft of sensation; numb:
He was half dead with fright. My leg feels dead.
6.
lacking sensitivity of feeling; insensitive:
dead to the needs of others.
7.
incapable of being emotionally moved; unresponsive:
dead to the nuances of the music.
8.
(of an emotion) no longer felt; ended; extinguished:
a dead passion; dead affections.
9.
no longer current or prevalent, as in effect, significance, or practice; obsolete:
a dead law; a dead controversy.
10.
no longer functioning, operating, or productive:
a dead motor; a dead battery.
11.
not moving or circulating; stagnant; stale:
dead water; dead air.
12.
utterly tired; exhausted:
They felt dead from the six-hour trip.
13.
(of a language) no longer in use as a sole means of oral communication among a people:
Latin is a dead language.
14.
without vitality, spirit, enthusiasm, or the like:
a dead party.
15.
lacking the customary activity; dull; inactive:
a dead business day.
16.
complete; absolute:
dead silence; The plan was a dead loss.
17.
sudden or abrupt, as the complete stoppage of an action:
The bus came to a dead stop.
18.
put out; extinguished:
a dead cigarette.
19.
without resilience or bounce:
a dead tennis ball.
20.
infertile; barren:
dead land.
21.
exact; precise:
the dead center of a circle.
22.
accurate; sure; unerring:
a dead shot.
23.
direct; straight:
a dead line.
24.
tasteless or flat, as a beverage:
a dead soft drink.
25.
flat rather than glossy, bright, or brilliant:
The house was painted dead white.
26.
without resonance; anechoic:
dead sound; a dead wall surface of a recording studio.
27.
not fruitful; unproductive:
dead capital.
28.
Law. deprived of civil rights so that one is in the state of civil death, especially deprived of the rights of property.
29.
Sports. out of play:
a dead ball.
30.
(of a golf ball) lying so close to the hole as to make holing on the next stroke a virtual certainty.
31.
(of type or copy) having been used or rejected.
32.
Electricity.
  1. free from any electric connection to a source of potential difference and from electric charge.
  2. not having a potential different from that of the earth.
33.
Metallurgy.
  1. fully killed.
  2. unresponsive to heat treatment.
34.
(of the mouth of a horse) no longer sensitive to the pressure of a bit.
35.
noting any rope in a tackle that does not pass over a pulley or is not rove through a block.
noun
36.
the period of greatest darkness, coldness, etc.:
the dead of night; the dead of winter.
37.
the dead, dead persons collectively:
Prayers were recited for the dead.
adverb
38.
absolutely; completely:
dead right; dead tired.
39.
with sudden and total stoppage of motion, action, or the like:
He stopped dead.
40.
directly; exactly; straight:
The island lay dead ahead.
Idioms
41.
dead in the water, completely inactive or inoperable; no longer in action or under consideration:
Our plans to expand the business have been dead in the water for the past two months.
42.
dead to rights, in the very act of committing a crime, offense, or mistake; red-handed.
Origin
before 950; Middle English deed, Old English dēad; cognate with Gothic dauths, German tot, Old Norse daudhr; orig. past participle See die1
Related forms
deadness, noun
half-dead, adjective
Synonyms
1. Dead, deceased, extinct, lifeless refer to something that does not have or appear to have life. Dead is usually applied to something that had life but from which life is now gone: dead trees. Deceased, a more formal word than dead, is applied to human beings who no longer have life: a deceased member of the church. Extinct is applied to a race, species, or the like, no member of which is any longer alive: Mastodons are now extinct. Lifeless is applied to something that may or may not have had life but that does not have it or appear to have it now: The lifeless body of a child was taken out of the water. Minerals consist of lifeless materials. 6. unfeeling, indifferent, callous, cold. 10. inert, inoperative. 11. still, motionless. 16. utter, entire, total. 20. sterile.
Antonyms
1. living, alive.
British Dictionary definitions for dead in the water

dead

/dɛd/
adjective
1.
  1. no longer alive
  2. (as noun): the dead
2.
not endowed with life; inanimate
3.
no longer in use, valid, effective, or relevant: a dead issue, a dead language
4.
unresponsive or unaware; insensible: he is dead to my strongest pleas
5.
lacking in freshness, interest, or vitality: a dead handshake
6.
devoid of physical sensation; numb: his gums were dead from the anaesthetic
7.
resembling death; deathlike: a dead sleep
8.
no longer burning or hot: dead coals
9.
(of flowers or foliage) withered; faded
10.
(prenominal) (intensifier): a dead stop, a dead loss
11.
(informal) very tired
12.
(electronics)
  1. drained of electric charge; fully discharged: the battery was dead
  2. not connected to a source of potential difference or electric charge
13.
lacking acoustic reverberation: a dead sound, a dead surface
14.
(sport) (of a ball, etc) out of play
15.
unerring; accurate; precise (esp in the phrase a dead shot)
16.
lacking resilience or bounce: a dead ball
17.
(printing)
  1. (of type) set but no longer needed for use Compare standing (sense 7)
  2. (of copy) already composed
18.
not yielding a return; idle: dead capital
19.
(informal) certain to suffer a terrible fate; doomed: you're dead if your mother catches you at that
20.
(of colours) not glossy or bright; lacklustre
21.
stagnant: dead air
22.
(military) shielded from view, as by a geographic feature or environmental condition: a dead zone, dead space
23.
(informal) dead as a doornail, completely dead
24.
(informal) dead from the neck up, stupid or unintelligent
25.
(informal) dead in the water, unsuccessful, and with little hope of future success: the talks are now dead in the water
26.
(informal) dead to the world, unaware of one's surroundings, esp fast asleep or very drunk
27.
leave for dead
  1. to abandon
  2. (informal) to surpass or outdistance by far
28.
(informal) wouldn't be seen dead in, to refuse to wear or to go to
noun
29.
a period during which coldness, darkness, or some other quality associated with death is at its most intense: the dead of winter
adverb
30.
(intensifier): dead easy, stop dead, dead level
31.
dead on, exactly right
Derived Forms
deadness, noun
Word Origin
Old English dēad; related to Old High German tōt, Old Norse dauthr; see die1
Word Origin and History for dead in the water

dead

adj.

Old English dead "dead," also "torpid, dull;" of water, "still, standing," from Proto-Germanic *dauthaz (cf. Old Saxon dod, Danish død, Swedish död, Old Frisian dad, Middle Dutch doot, Dutch dood, Old High German tot, German tot, Old Norse dauðr, Gothic dauþs "dead"), from PIE *dhou-toz-, from root *dheu- (3) "to die" (see die (v.)).

Meaning "insensible" is first attested early 13c. Of places, "inactive, dull," from 1580s. Used from 16c. in adjectival sense of "utter, absolute, quite" (cf. dead drunk first attested 1590s; dead heat, 1796). As an adverb, from late 14c. Dead on is 1889, from marksmanship. Dead duck is from 1844. Dead letter is from 1703, used of laws lacking force as well as uncollected mail. Phrase in the dead of the night first recorded 1540s.

For but ich haue bote of mi bale I am ded as dorenail (c.1350).
Dead soldier "emptied liquor bottle" is from 1913 in that form; the image is older:
Dead man, or Dead marine, a colloquialism for an empty bottle, possibly in humorous recognition of the fact that the spirits have departed. But the French also have the same phrase, un corps mort, a dead body, for which there can be no punning pretext. [Walsh, 1892]

dead in the water in Medicine

dead (děd)
adj.

  1. Having lost life; no longer alive.

  2. Lacking feeling or sensitivity; unresponsive.

Slang definitions & phrases for dead in the water

dead in the water

adjective phrase

Unable to move; stalled; defunct: Right now, the economy is dead in the water, with 10.8 percent unemployment/ Once I saw you, you were dead in the water

[fr the image of a disabled ship, unable to proceed]


dead

adjective
  1. Very tired; beat, pooped (1813+)
  2. Not operating; not startable: Damn battery's dead (1902+)
  3. Ruined; destroyed; finished, kaput: As far as another chance goes, I'm dead/ The ERA's dead again (1400+)
  4. Dull; tedious and uninteresting: another dead sermon (1000+)
  5. Lacking brilliance and overtones; flat; dull: The trumpets sounded dead (1530+)
  6. Absolute; assured: It's a dead certainty he'll run again (1589+)
adverb

Extremely; very much: I'm dead broke/ dead set against it (1589+)

noun

A letter or package that can neither be delivered nor returned •Dead letter in this sense is attested from 1703 (1950s+ Post office)

Related Terms

drop dead, knock someone dead, not be caught dead, stone dead, stop someone or something dead in someone's or something's tracks

[the sense ''absolute, assured, certain'' probably developed fr expressions like Middle English ded oppressed, ''completely overcome,'' 16th-century dead drunk, and others suggesting the inertness of death; when inertness suggested fixedness, unchangingness, certainty, etc, the term took on these present senses]


Idioms and Phrases with dead in the water

dead in the water

Unable to function or move; inoperable. For example, Without an effective leader, our plans for expansion are dead in the water. Originally referring to a crippled ship, this colloquialism was soon applied more broadly.

dead

also see:
also see under:
death