| deadeye |
one of a pair of hardwood disks with holes and concave rims through and around which certain rigging ropes are passed, used esp. to tighten the stays and shrouds of sailing vessels. [2 definitions] |
| deadfall |
a trap in which a heavy weight is set to drop on an animal and either stun or kill it. [2 definitions] |
| deadhead |
(informal) a person who uses a free ticket for transportation, admission, or the like; nonpaying customer. [5 definitions] |
| dead heat |
a race that ends in a tie between two or more contestants. |
| dead letter |
a letter that the post office is unable to deliver or return, usu. because of an incorrect address or the lack of a return address. [2 definitions] |
| dead-letter office |
a postal department to which undeliverable or unreturnable letters and parcels are sent to be opened, delivered if an address can be found, or destroyed. |
| deadlight |
a strong shutter or cover fastened over the interior of a ship's porthole or cabin window in stormy weather. [3 definitions] |
| deadline |
a date or time by which something must be done. [2 definitions] |
| dead load |
the fixed or permanent weight of a structure that exerts a uniform, constant pressure on the supports. (Cf. live load.) |
| deadlock |
a standstill or stoppage of progress on either side between equally strong or determined adversaries. [2 definitions] |
| deadly |
capable of causing death. [6 definitions] |
| deadly nightshade |
see "belladonna." |
| deadly sins |
the seven sins believed to cause spiritual death: pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth. |
| dead march |
a slow, solemn piece of music, esp. a march played during a funeral procession. |
| deadpan |
showing no emotion; blank and expressionless. [3 definitions] |
| dead reckoning |
the calculation of the position of a ship or airplane on the basis of speed, distance, wind speed, and currents, rather than on more accurate astronomical observations. |
| Dead Sea |
a large salt lake between Israel and Jordan, and the lowest recorded land elevation on earth, at about 1300 feet below sea level. |
| Dead Sea Scrolls |
scrolls dating from about 100 B.C. to 70 A.D. that were found in caves above the Dead Sea, and that contain scriptural and other writings of a Jewish religious community. |
| dead set against |
utterly opposed to; strongly against. |
| dead weight |
the unrelieved weight of any inert mass, esp. a human or animal body. [3 definitions] |
| deadwood |
on a tree, branches or sections of trunk that are dead. [2 definitions] |