DEAD

(COMPLETE) [adjective] [before noun], [adverb] [not gradable] - complete(ly)The braking system enables the car to come from 100 km an hour to a dead halt/stop in under five seconds.The conductor waited for dead silence before commencing the performance.(informal) I'm dead certain I left my purse on the desk.You won't be able to change his mind - he's dead against the plan.(informal) Let's stop for something to eat - I'm dead (= very) hungry.(informal) The exam was dead (= very) easy.(informal) I was dead beat (= very tired) after running the marathon.(UK informal) Have you seen 'Annie Hall'? It's a dead (= very) good film.The post office is dead (= straight) ahead.Aim for the dead (= exact) centre of the target.All your answers were dead (= exactly) on target.I always try to arrive dead (= exactly) on time.Martha's dead set on (having) (= very much wants to have) a new bike for her birthday.He's dead set against (= completely opposed to) living in the city.Even a slight hand injury can stop/halt a guitarist's career dead in its tracks (= stop it suddenly and completely).Her imitation of Madonna is dead-on (= exactly right).(US) Dead air is an unintentional period of silence during a radio or television broadcast.The engineers worked to fix the problem while the station broadcast dead air instead of the program.A dead end is a road which is closed at one end, and therefore does not lead anywhere.This road seems to be a dead end - we'll have to turn back.(figurative) Negotiators have reached a dead end (= have not been successful and cannot go further) in their attempts to find a peaceful solution.(figurative) He's in a dead-end job (= one with no hope of improving his position).A dead heat is a competition in which two or more competitors finish at exactly the same time or with exactly the same result.The race ended in a dead heat.The opinion polls show the three election candidates in a dead heat (with each other).Nothing was decided at the meeting - it was just a dead loss (= totally useless).A dead ringer is someone or something which looks very similar to someone or something else.Of course Pat's a dead ringer for Rachel - she's her twin sister.(US) If someone catches, gets or has you dead to rights, they have found you doing something wrong or against the law.I'd been driving above the speed limit and the police radar caught me dead to rights.She said I had her dead to rights when I found her with a slice of cake in front of her.