dead weight

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Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
dead/ded/

▶adjective

• 1 no longer alive.

  ■ devoid of living things.

• 2 (of a part of the body) numb.

  ■ lacking emotion, sympathy, or sensitivity.

• 3 no longer relevant or important.

• 4 lacking activity or excitement.

  ■ (of sound or a colour) dull.

• 5 (of equipment) not functioning.

  ■ (of a glass or bottle) empty or no longer in use.

  ■ (of the ball in a game) out of play.

• 6 complete; absolute: dead silence.

▶adverb completely.

■ exactly.

■ straight; directly.

■ Brit. informal very.

– phrases
be dead meat informal be in serious trouble.
dead and buried over; finished.
dead in the water (of a ship) unable to move.

■ unable to function effectively.

the dead of night the quietest, darkest part of the night.
the dead of winter the coldest part of winter.
dead on one's feet informal very tired.
dead to the world informal fast asleep.
from the dead from a state of death.
wouldn't be seen (or caught) dead in (or with, at, etc.) informal have a strong dislike of.

– derivatives
deadness noun.

– origin OE dēad, of Gmc origin: rel. to Ger. tot, also to die1.