Dead Meaning
/dɛd/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjNo longer living; deceased. (Also used as a noun.)
adjDevoid of living things; barren.
Sentence Examples
It's a dead end.
You must give him up for dead.
I'll look after your affairs when you are dead.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The cat lay still on the road, clearly ____ from the accident.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It's a ____ end.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English ded, deed, from Old English dēad, from Proto-West Germanic *daud, from Proto-Germanic *daudaz. Compare West Frisian dead, dea, Dutch dood, German tot, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål død, Norwegian Nynorsk daud, Swedish död.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Behold the substance from which all things draw their energy, the bright Spirit of the Globe, without which it cannot live, but must grow cold and dead as the dead moon."
— 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
"Was it possible to exist upon a dead world?"
— 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
"When a man's verses cannot be understood, nor a man's good wit seconded with the forward child, understanding, it strikes a man more dead than a great reckoning in a little room."
— 1600, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, act III, scene 3:
"“Finished the last one at three this morning, apart from bits and bobs and poppers. Quite frankly, I'm dead!”"
— 1970, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 124:
"I didn't have it in myself to go with grace
And you're the hero flying around, saving face
And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake?"
— 2020 July 24, Taylor Swift, “My Tears Ricochet”, in Folklore:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The cat lay still on the road, clearly ____ from the accident.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It's a ____ end.