DEAD - Definition & Meaning for Kids
Meaning 1
Part of speech: Adjective
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
Example: the nerve is dead; a dead pallor; he was marked as a dead man by the assassin
Meaning 2
Part of speech: Adjective
not showing characteristics of life especially the capacity to sustain life; no longer exerting force or having energy or heat
Example: Mars is a dead planet; dead soil; dead coals; the fire is dead
Meaning 3
Part of speech: Adjective
unerringly accurate
Example: a dead shot; took dead aim
Meaning 4
Part of speech: Adjective
physically inactive
Example: Crater Lake is in the crater of a dead volcano of the Cascade Range
Meaning 5
Part of speech: Adjective
(followed by `to') not showing human feeling or sensitivity; unresponsive
Example: passersby were dead to our plea for help; numb to the cries for mercy
Meaning 6
Part of speech: Adjective
devoid of physical sensation; numb
Example: his gums were dead from the novocain; she felt no discomfort as the dentist drilled her deadened tooth; a public desensitized by continuous television coverage of atrocities
Meaning 7
Part of speech: Adjective
lacking acoustic resonance
Example: dead sounds characteristic of some compact discs; the dead wall surfaces of a recording studio
Meaning 8
Part of speech: Adjective
not yielding a return
Example: dead capital; idle funds
Meaning 9
Part of speech: Adjective
not circulating or flowing
Example: dead air; dead water; stagnant water
Meaning 10
Part of speech: Adjective
not surviving in active use
Example: Latin is a dead language
Meaning 11
Part of speech: Adjective
lacking resilience or bounce
Example: a dead tennis ball
Meaning 12
Part of speech: Adjective
out of use or operation because of a fault or breakdown
Example: a dead telephone line; the motor is dead
Meaning 13
Part of speech: Adjective
no longer having force or relevance
Example: a dead issue
Meaning 14
Part of speech: Adjective
complete
Example: came to a dead stop; utter seriousness
Meaning 15
Part of speech: Adjective
drained of electric charge; discharged
Example: a dead battery; left the lights on and came back to find the battery drained
Meaning 16
Part of speech: Adjective
devoid of activity; nothing ever happens here"
Example: this is a dead town
Synonyms
Abruptly, Utterly, Numb, Suddenly, Idle
Antonyms
🌱 Word Origin (Etymology)
The word "dead" comes from Proto-Germanic *daudaz. It started in Proto-West Germanic *daud. Then it appeared in Old English dēad. Later, people used it in Middle English ded. Many other languages have similar words:.
- West Frisian: dead
- Dutch: dood
- German: tot
- Norwegian: død
- Norwegian Nynorsk: daud
🧩 Fun Fact
Each civilization borrowed this word because they encountered the concept through cultural contact.