No longer living; deceased.
A guide to dead
• Devoid of living things; barren.
• Figuratively, not alive; lacking life.
• Utterly exhausted.
• So hated or offensive as to be absolutely shunned, ignored, or ostracized.
• Doomed; marked for death; as good as dead.
• Without emotion; impassive.
• Stationary; static; immobile or immovable.
• Without interest to one of the senses; dull; flat.
• Unproductive; fallow.
• Past, bygone, vanished.
• Lacking usual activity; unexpectedly quiet or empty of people.
• Completely inactive; currently without power; without a signal; not live.
• Unable to emit power, being discharged (flat) or faulty.
• Broken or inoperable.
• No longer used or required.
• Intentionally designed so as not to impart motion or power.
• Not in play.
• Lying so near the hole that the player is certain to hole it in the next stroke.
• Tagged out.
• Full and complete .
• Exact; on the dot.
• Experiencing pins and needles (paresthesia).
• Expresses an emotional reaction associated with hyperbolic senses of die:
• Dying of laughter.
• Expresses shock, second-hand embarrassment, etc.
• Constructed so as not to reflect or transmit sound; soundless; anechoic.
• Bringing death; deadly.
• Cut off from the rights of a citizen; deprived of the power of enjoying the rights of property.
• Indifferent to; having no obligation toward; no longer subject to or ruled by (sin, guilt, pleasure, etc).
• Of a syllable in languages such as Thai and Burmese: ending abruptly.
(Adverb) Exactly.
• Very, absolutely, extremely.
• Suddenly and completely.
• As if dead.
(Noun) Time when coldness, darkness, or stillness is most intense.
• Those who have died: dead people.
(Noun) Sterile mining waste, often present as many large rocks stacked inside the workings.
• Clipping of deadlift.
(Verb) To prevent by disabling; to stop.
• To make dead; to deaden; to deprive of life, force, or vigour.
• To kill.
• To discontinue or put an end to (something).
Why dead is relevant in U.S. law
dead appears in U.S. legal practice across multiple practice areas. Knowing what it means — and when it applies — can determine the outcome of motions, filings, and negotiations. For non-lawyers, the value of looking up a precise definition is that legal terms often carry meanings that differ from everyday usage; relying on the common meaning can lead to costly missteps.
When and how dead applies
In practice, dead is invoked when parties, judges, or attorneys need to identify the legal status of an issue, the rights of those involved, or the procedural step required next. The definition shown above is sourced from Wiktionary , which is widely cited in U.S. legal practice. Because U.S. law is jurisdictionally layered — federal, state, and sometimes local — the precise application of the term can vary by court, so check the controlling authority for your specific case.