Your English: Word grammar: dead

In addition to its main adjectival meaning of ‘not alive’, dead can also be used to describe a piece of equipment that is no longer working or able to receive an electronic signal, as in ‘The battery was completely dead’ or ‘The phone suddenly went dead’.  

A place, time or situation that is not very interesting can also be described as dead, as in ‘Seaside towns can seem dead out of season’ or ‘February is a dead month for many of the big stores’. 

Only used before a noun such as silence, centre or stop, dead can be used to mean ‘complete’, as in ‘When he finished his lecture, there was dead silence in the room’. 

In British English, a glass or bottle can be described as dead if it is empty or finished with, as in ‘Are these glasses dead? Can I clear them away?’ 

Used informally, and never before a noun, dead can mean ‘in serious trouble’, as in ‘If she catches you rifling through her purse, you’re dead!’ 

Dead can also function as an adverb, meaning ‘completely’, as in ‘You’re dead right!’; ‘exactly’, as in ‘The train arrived dead on time’; or ‘very’, as in ‘That lesson was dead boring’ or ‘I’m dead tired, but I simply can’t miss this meeting’. The expression dead beat can also be used to mean ‘dead tired’.  

As a noun, dead can be used in just a couple of expressions meaning ‘the middle of the night’ or ‘the middle of the winter’, as in ‘The terrorists arrived in the village in the dead of night’.