deadness

Variant of dead

dead definition

dead (ded)

adjective

  1. no longer living; having died
  2. naturally without life; inanimate dead stones
  3. such as to suggest death; deathlike a dead faint
  4. lacking positive qualities, as of warmth, vitality, interest, brightness, brilliance, etc. a dead handshake, a dead party, a dead white
  5. wholly indifferent; insensible dead to love
  6. without feeling, motion, or power his arm hung dead at his side
    1. not burning; extinguished dead coals
    2. extinct a dead volcano
  7. characterized by little or no movement or activity; slack, stagnant, etc. dead water
  8. designating an axle that supports but does not drive a wheel
  9. having lost resilience or elasticity a dead tennis ball
  10. no longer used or significant; obsolete dead languages, dead laws
    1. not fertile; barren dead soil
    2. not yielding a return; unproductive dead capital
  11. certain as death; unerring; sure a dead shot
  12. exact; precise dead center
  13. complete; total; absolute a dead stop
  14. unvarying; undeviating dead level
  15. Informal very tired; exhausted
  16. Elec.
    1. having no current passing through a dead wire
    2. having lost its charge a dead battery
  17. Printing set, but no longer needed for use dead type
  18. Sports
    1. no longer in play a dead ball
    2. barred by a game's rules from making a particular play

Etymology: ME ded < OE dēad, akin to ON dauthr, OHG tōt, Goth dauths: orig. pp. of an old v. base appearing in ON deyja, OS dojan, OHG touwen, all < IE base *dheu-, die

noun

the time of greatest darkness, most intense cold, etc. the dead of night, the dead of winter

adverb

  1. completely; absolutely dead right
  2. directly dead ahead

Related Forms:

dead Idioms

dead in the water

Informal
  1. at a standstill from the loss of power, momentum, vigor, etc.
  2. destined for certain failure or ruin; doomed

dead to rights

Informal in an undeniably incriminating situation; red-handed

dead to the world

Informal sound asleep

the dead

those who have died

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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