dead 
12. Tasteless; vapid; spiritless; flat: said of 
liquors. 13. Without spiritual life: as, ili-ml 
works; ili/iil faith. 
And you hath 
passes and sin- 
he quirkrnril, lii- w. TV 
'.;</ in tres- 
Lph. ii 1. 
14. Fixed; sure; unerring: as, a dead cer- 
tainty. 
Tim author . . . has . . . been out with thousands of 
s|M.rt.sinen, hut In- nrvi-r yrt .saw a ilrnit shot one who 
i-aii kill every time. 
A'. R liiuiterelt, (iame Water-l'.inU, p. 401. 
15. Being in the state of civil death ; cut off 
from the rights of a citizen ; deprived of the 
power of enjoying the rights of property, as 
one sentenced to imprisonment for life for 
crime, or, formerly, one who was banished or 
became a monk. 16. Not communicating mo- 
tion or power : as, dead steam ; the dead spin- 
dle of a lathe. 17. Not glossy or brilliant: 
said of a color or a surface. 18. Out of the 
game ; out of play : said of a ball or a player : 
us, a dead ball ; ho is dead. -Absolution for the 
dead. Sec iiiaaiiniiini. Baptism for the dead. *<< 
tmi't ixin. Dead-alive, or dead-and-alive, dull; In- 
active; moping. [t'olloq.] 
If a man is alive, there is always danger that he may 
die, though the danger must Ite allowed to In- l.-ss in jn-o- 
portion as IK- i- </, >(</-nn<l-ntir<' to lie^m with. 
7'Amvini, Waldcli, p. 1(38. 
Dead angle, in .fmrt. See angle*. Dead as a door- 
nail, iltterl), complete!} drad. 
He liar him to the erthe, 
As / '/ an dornayl te deme the sotlir. 
WWan of I'ulrriu- (V.. K. T. S.), I. 3396. 
Dead axle, beat, block, calm, copy, escapement. Ale, 
force, gold, etc. See the nouns. Dead cotton, unripe 
cutton tiliers which will not take dye.- Dead floor, a 
floor BO constructed as to alisorh or prevent the passage of 
sounds. Dead freight, in maritime law, the amount 
paid by agreement, liy a charterer, for that part of a ves- 
sel which he does not occupy. Dead ground. Same as 
dead angle. -Dead heat. See heat. -Dead hedge, a 
hedge made with the primings of trees, or with the tops 
of old hedges which have heeli cut down. Dead holes. 
See Aofei. Dead language, lift, matter. See the nouns. 
Dead letter, (a) A letter which lies unclaimed for a 
certain time at a post-office, or which for any reason, as 
defect of address, cannot he delivered, and is sent to the 
dead-letter office, (fr) A law, ordinance, or legal instru- 
ment which, through long-continued and uninterrupted 
disuse or disregard, has lost its actual although not its 
formal authority. Dead-letter office, a department of 
a general post-office where dead letters are examined and 
returned to the writers when an address is found within, 
or, if the address is not given, destroyed after a fixed 
time. In the United States this department is called the 
Division of Dead Letters, and is under the siipervision of 
the Third Assistant Postmaster-General. Dead men. 
(a) Bottles emptied at a banquet, carouse, etc. [Slang.J 
Lord Sm. Come, John, hriug us a fresh Iwttle. 
Col. Ay, my lord, and pray let him carry off the dead 
men, as we say in the army (meaning the empty iKittles). 
Siptft, Polite Conversation, ii. 
(/>) Naitt., an old name for the reef- or gasket-ends care- 
lessly left dangling under the yard when the sail is furled, 
instead of lieiug tucked in. [Rare. ] Dead men's shoes, 
a situation or possession formerly held "by a person who 
has died. 
Tis tedious waiting dcatl menu rthoe*. 
Fletcher, Poems, p. 250. 
And ye're e'en come hack to Lihberton to wait for dead 
mm'* nhooii. Scott, Heart of Mid-Lothian, v. 
Dead on end (naut.), said of the wind when it lilows in 
dir.-i-t opposition to a ship's course. Dead pallet, in 
chick- and tratch-inakinn. See dead tieat (/>), under beatl, 
n. Dead pnlL See pull. Dead space. Same as dead 
in i<ii,'. Deadweight. SeetwiV/Ar. Deadwlre.inM' '." 
a wire or line to which there is no instrument attached 
and which is not in use. Dead wools. See flew, 1. 
Mass for the dead. See WWM*'. To be dead* [with 
reference to the act, be, being equivalent to become ; cf. L. 
mortuus est, he died, lit. he is dead], to die. 
Dampneil was this Knyght for to In 1 </'r/. 
Chaucer, Wife of liath's Tale, 1. 36. 
If righteousness come hy the law, then Christ <v il,-ml in 
vain. (iitl. ii. 21. 
The gracious Duncan 
Was pitied of Maelwth: - marry, lie ii-ax ilfinl. 
Shale., Macheth, ill. 6. 
To flog a dead horse, to pay for a dead horse, to pull 
the dead horse, see *<>w. 
H. M. 1. The culminating point, as of the 
cold of winter, or of the darkness or stillness of 
the night. 
What saucy groom knocks at this dead of night? 
Beau, and Fl., Philastcr, Ii. 4. 
2. pi. Material thrown out in digging ; specifi- 
cally, in mining, worthless rock; attlo: same 
.is ijnh in I'oal-mining. Also (dialectal) deeds. 
3t. [Prop, a var. of death : of. deadly = deathly, 
dead-day = death-<lay, etc.] Death. 
Tin' ilate a thousand right a hundreth A fifty, 
That steucii t.i ./.-./.- :is .light. Kiilrrt of llmnne. 
Although he were my ae hrither, 
An ill dead sail In- <lii-. 
Rimnii liiiliti l.iriniifti:,! (Child's llalliuls, IV. 42). 
4. A complete failure in recitation. [School 
slang.] 
1469 
dead (ded), r. [< ME. deden, < AS. dydnn, also 
incomp. nrfyrfrtn, kill (ct.aitriiditin. \H-I-O im >1. -:ul, 
mortify) (= D. dimilin = MLli. ddi;, = OIK;. 
Indrii, Mlltl. I'ltiit.i',. tiitt-ii, tmltiti Dan. diidi- 
= Sw. diidn = Goth, dautlijnn, kill), < dnid, 
dead: see ilfitil. n. ( 'f . deaden.] I. intrant. If. 
To become dead; lose life or force. 
Al my felynge gan to dede. 
Chaucer, Hoiue of Fain. 
Bo Iron, as soon as it is nut of the lire, deadrlh straight- 
way. Bacon, Nat. Hint., I 774. 
2. To make a complete failure in recitation. 
[School slang.] 
II. trans. It. To make dead ; deprive of life, 
consciousness, force, or vigor; dull; deaden. 
\\ li.'M Cali.lor.- these ruefull neweshad raught, 
His hart quite deaded was with anguish great. 
Spenner, F. Q., VI. xi. S3. 
A sad course I Hue now ; lieauen's sterne decree 
With many au ill hath numbed and deaded me. 
Chapman, Odyssey, xviii. 
Why lose you not your powers, anil become 
Dulled, if not deaded, with this spectacle? 
B. Jimiuin, Every Man out of his Humour, i. 1. 
2. To cause to fail in recitation : said of a 
teacher who puzzles a scholar. [School slang.] 
dead (ded). <idr. [< ilr<i<l, a.] 1. In a dead or 
dull manner. 2. To a degree approaching 
ili-ath; deathly; to the last degree: as, to be 
ili'ad sleepy; he was dead drunk. 
Their weeping mothers, 
Following the dmrf-cold ashes of their sons, 
Shall never curse my cruelty. 
Fletcher (and another), Two Noble Kinsmen, iv. 2. 
3. Entirely ; completely : as, he was dead sure 
that he was right. [Colloq.] 
I aim 
At a most rich success strikes all dead sure. 
Middleton, C'hangeling, v. 1. 
4. Directly; exactly; diametrically: as, the wind 
was dead ahead. Dead beat. See beati, pp. To 
be dead set against, to he wholly and resolutely op- 
poscd to. [Cofloq.] To be dead up to, to know or 
understand thoroughly ; l>e expert in. [Thieves' slang. J 
dead-beat (ded'bef), a. and n. I. a. Making 
successive movements with intervals of rest 
and no recoil ; free from oscillatory movement. 
Dead-beat escapement, galvanometer. See the 
nouns. 
II. n. 1. A dead-beat escapement. 2. See 
dead beat (a), under beat 1 , n. 
dead-bell (ded'bel), . Same as death-bell. 
And every jow that the dead-bell geid, 
It cry'd, Woe to Barbara Allan ! 
Herd' Collection, I. 20. 
dead-born (ded'born), a. [AS. deddboren.] 
Still-born. 
All, all hut truth, drops dead-born from the press, 
Like the last gazette, or the last address. 
Pope, Epil. to Satires, ii. 220. 
dead-center (ded'sen'ter), . In mech., that 
position of the arms of a link-motion in which 
they coincide with the line of centers that is, 
when the links are in the same straight line. 
Thus, when the crank and connecting-rod of a steam- 
englue are in a straight line, the situation is expressed 
by saying that the engine is on its (upper or lower) dead- 
r.-fii.-r, or that the crank is at its (long or short) dead-point. 
dead-clothes (ded'kloTHz), n. pi. Clothes in 
which to bury the dead. 
Once in the woods the men set themselves to dig out ac- 
tual catacombs, while the women made dead-clfithes. 
Conteinjutrarif Her., LIII. 409. 
dead-coloring (ded'kuFor-ing), n. In painting, 
the first broad outlines of a picture. See ex- 
tract. 
Dead colouring is the first, or preparatory painting : it 
is so called because the colours are laid on In a dead or 
cold manner to fonn as it were the ground for the sub- 
sequent processes resembling in some degree the work 
known amongst house-painters as "priming," the future 
rttVi-ts being rather indicated and provided for than really 
attaiiu-d. 
r'iflil'i Crainmar of Colouring (ed. Davidson), p. 170. 
dead-day*. n. See deatlt-day. 
dead-dipping (ded'dip'lng), n. The process of 
giving, by the action of an acid, a dead pale- 
yellow color to brass. Weale. 
dead-doingt (ded'do'ing), a. Causing or inflict- 
ing death ; deadly. 
Hold, deare Lord ! hold your dead-doing hand. 
Spenser, F. VJ., II. 111. 8. 
Stay thy dtad-doinfl hand : he must not die yet 
itii. and Fl., Scornful Lady, ii. 2. 
dead-door (ded'dor), n. IntUp-faifldtetf, a door 
fitted to the outside of the quarter of a ship, 
to keep out the sea in case the quarter-gall. TV 
should bo carried away. 
deaden (ded'n), v. t. [< dead + -ri. Cf. dead, 
i'.] 1. To make dead (in a figurative sense); 
deadhead 
render less sensitive, active, energetic, or for- 
cililc; impair tlir srnsitivi-m-ss or tin- sin-ngth 
of; dull; weaken: as, to </// sound: to 
deaden the force of a ball ; to drudi-n the sengi- 
bilitii--. 
There IH a vital energy in thr human son], whii-h vice, 
]IUUI-\,T it may <l,tlrn, cannot destroy. 
Channiii'j, Perfect Life, p. 75. 
2. To retard; hinder; lessen the velocity or 
momentum of: as, to deaden a ship's way (that 
is, to retard her progress). 3. To make imper- 
vious to sound, as a floor. 4. To make insipid, 
flat, or stale: said of wine or beer. 5. To 
deprive of gloss or brilliancy: a^, to dunlin 
gilding by a coat of size. 
The sunbeams sought the Court of Guard, 
And, struggling with tin- smoky air, 
Deadniril the torches' yellow glare. 
Scott, L. of the L., vl. 2. 
Oily marrow deatteiw the whiteness of the tissue. 
Omn, Anat, II. 
6. To kill ; especially, to kill (trees) by girdling. 
[Western U. S.] 
deadener (ded'n-er), . A person or thing that 
deadens, dulls, checks, or represses. 
Ilicnnibnilircs ami ifr'adener* of the harmony, f^andor. 
deadening (ded'n-ing), n. [Verbal n. of dead- 
in, r. Cf. I). < loudening.] 1. A device or mate- 
rial employed to deaden or render dull. Spccifl- 
t all> (n) A tl.-vire prev.-ntinu' the transmission of sound, 
as from one part of a building to another, (b) A thin 
wash of glue spread over gilding to reduce the specular 
reflection, or any roughening of a decorative surface to 
destroy the reflection of light. 
When the deadening is laid on the glass, the figures 
must he engraved or etched with a pointed instrument 
made of wood, Imne, or ivory, 
Wiirkthop Receiptt, 1st ser., p. 57. 
2. A tract of land on which the trees have been 
killed by girdling. [Western U. 8.] 
deadeye (ded'I), . Naut., a round, laterally flat- 
tened wooden block, encircled by a rope or an 
iron band, and pierced 
with three holes to re- 
ceive the lanyard, used 
to extend the shrouds 
and stays, and for 
other purposes. 
deadfall (ded'fal), n. 
1. A trap in which a 
weight is arranged to 
fall upon and crush the 
prey, used for large 
game. It is commonly Fron , andS id views o 
formed of two heavy logs, 
one lying on the ground, and the other rising in a sloping 
direction, and upheld in this position hy a contrivance of 
Insecure props. The game, in order to get at the bait, 
has to pass under the sloping log, and in doing so is com- 
pelled to knock away the props, when the raised log falls 
and secures It. 
2. A smaller trap for rats, etc. , in which the fall 
is a loaded board. 3. A tangled mass of fallen 
trees and underbrush. 
Deadfall! of trees thrown over, under, or astraddle of 
each other hy gales or avalanches. 
The Centura, XXIX. 195. 
4. A low drinking- or gaming-placc. [Western 
U. S.] 
dead-file (ded'fil), . A file in which the cuts 
are so close and fine that its action is practi- 
cally noiseless. 
dead-flat (ded'flat), . In ship-building, the 
greatest transverse section of a ship. Also 
called miilnhip lieiid. 
dead-ground (deil'ground), n. In mining, un- 
productive ground ; country-rock ; any rock 
adjacent to a metalliferous deposit or vein, 
through which work has to be carried to de- 
velop a mine, but which itself contains no ore. 
dead-hand (ded'hand), . [Trans, of mort- 
main. i|. v.] Same as mortmain. 
Forty thousand serfs in the gorges of the Jnra . . . 
were held In dead-hand hy the llishop of St Claude. 
J. ilorlfii. Burke, p. IfiO. 
dead-head (ded'hed), w. 1. In founding: (a) 
The extra length of metal given to a cast gun. 
It serves to receive the dross, which rises to the surface 
of the liquid in.-tal. and would IK-, were it not for the 
dead-head, at the muzzle of the gun. When cooled and 
solidified, the dead-head is cut off. Also called *inkin;i- 
head or uprtie. (J,) That piece on a casting which 
fills the ingate at which the metal enters the 
mold. E. II. Knight. 2. The tailstock of a 
lathe. It contains the dead-spindle and back- 
center, while the live-head or headstock con- 
tains the live-spindle. 3. Xaut., a rough block 
of wood used as an anchor-buoy. 
deadhead (ded'hed), . [Cf. ODan. dfidthnred, 
a fool.] One who is allowed to ride in a public 
conveyance, to attend a theateror other place of 
