dead weight
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.80 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The largest weight of cargo a ship is able to carry; i.e., the weight of a ship when fully loaded minus its weight when empty.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The total (unpowered) weight of a train to be propelled (or hauled) by the locomotive; another locomotive being hauled dead as part of the train is a dead weight.
Countable; Uncountable
adv
With just enough weight for a ball to drop into a pocket, or come to rest in a precisely determined position.
Example Sentences
- "His dead weight, as he abruptly collapses, pulls his lapels from her hands, reminding her to step back, off-balancing whoever is behind her, […]"
- "She wants to shed the dead weight of so many stacks of old clutter."
- "It was Ethel Churchill, dressed as a bride, and on her wedding morning, that Norbourne had seen. She had sought the summer-house for a few moments of quiet and solitude. There was a dead weight on her spirits, which she rather sought to indulge than to shake off."
- "For ten minutes he waited there, jabbed at by his nerves, with every minute mounting up a dead weight of suspense."
- "They have the brains to rob a bank, but I guess only the rest of the gray matter is nothing but dead weight."
- "Nobody could ever be bothered to imagine the Sand Snakes beyond personalized weaponry and fake-aggressive quips, none of which were very convincing, and now they don’t even register as dead weight."