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13 PHRASE If you say that a person or animal dropped dead or dropped down dead , you mean that they died very suddenly and unexpectedly. □  He dropped dead on the quayside.

14 PHRASE If you say that you feel dead or are half dead , you mean that you feel very tired or ill and very weak. [INFORMAL , EMPHASIS ] □  You looked half dead after that journey.

15 PHRASE If something happens in the dead of night , at dead of night , or in the dead of winter , it happens in the middle part of the night or the winter, when it is darkest or coldest. [LITERARY ] □  We buried it in the garden at dead of night.

16 PHRASE If you say that you wouldn't be seen dead or be caught dead in particular clothes, places, or situations, you are expressing strong dislike or disapproval of them. [INFORMAL , EMPHASIS ] □  I wouldn't be seen dead in a straw hat.

17 PHRASE To stop dead means to suddenly stop happening or moving. To stop someone or something dead means to cause them to suddenly stop happening or moving. □  We all stopped dead and looked at it.

18 PHRASE If you say that someone or something is dead in the water , you are emphasizing that they have failed, and that there is little hope of them being successful in the future. [EMPHASIS ] □  A 'no' vote would have left the treaty dead in the water.

19to flog a dead horse → see flog

20a dead loss → see loss

21a dead ringer → see ringer

22to stop dead in your tracks → see track SYNONYMS dead ADJ 1

deceased:…his recently deceased mother.

late:…my late husband.

extinct:It is 250 years since the wolf became extinct in Britain.

dead|beat /de dbiːt/ (deadbeats ) N‑COUNT If you refer to someone as a deadbeat , you are criticizing them because you think they are lazy and do not want to be part of ordinary society. [AM , INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ]

dea d-bea t also dead beat ADJ [v-link ADJ ] If you are dead-beat , you are very tired and have no energy left. [INFORMAL ]

dea d du ck (dead ducks ) N‑COUNT If you describe someone or something as a dead duck , you are emphasizing that you think they have absolutely no chance of succeeding. [INFORMAL , EMPHASIS ]

dead|en /de d ^ə n/ (deadens , deadening , deadened ) VERB If something deadens a feeling or a sound, it makes it less strong or loud. □ [V n] He needs morphine to deaden the pain in his chest.

dea d e nd (dead ends )

1 N‑COUNT If a street is a dead end , there is no way out at one end of it.

2 N‑COUNT [oft N n] A dead end job or course of action is one that you think is bad because it does not lead to further developments or progress. □  Waitressing was a dead-end job.

dead|en|ing /de d ^ə n I ŋ/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] A deadening situation destroys people's enthusiasm and imagination. □  She was bored with the deadening routine of her life.

dea d ha nd N‑SING You can refer to the dead hand of a particular thing when that thing has a bad or depressing influence on a particular situation. [mainly BRIT ] □  …the dead hand of bureaucracy.

dea d-head (dead-heads , dead-heading , dead-headed ) also deadhead

1 VERB To dead-head a plant which is flowering means to remove all the dead flowers from it. [BRIT ] □ [V n] Dead-head roses as the blooms fade.

2 N‑COUNT If you say that someone is a deadhead , you mean that they are stupid or slow. [AM , INFORMAL ]

dea d hea t (dead heats ) N‑COUNT If a race or contest is a dead heat , two or more competitors are joint winners, or are both winning at a particular moment in the race or contest. In American English, you can say that a race or contest is in a dead heat . □  The race ended in a dead heat between two horses.