Chapter De Trop to Deal of D by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Dead Lift I am at a dead lift. In a strait or difficulty where I greatly need help; a hopeless exigency. A dead lift is the lifting of a dead or inactive body, which must be done by sheer force.

Dead Lights Strong wooden shutters to close the cabin windows of a ship; they deaden or kill the daylight.
   To ship the dead lights. To draw the shutter over the cabin window; to keep out the sea when a gale is expected.

Dead Lock A lock which has no spring catch. Metaphorically, a state of things so entangled that there seems to be no practical solution.

"Things are at a dead-lock." - The Times.

Dead Men Empty bottles. Down among the dead men let me lie. Let me get so intoxicated as to slip from my chair, and lie under the table with the empty bottles. The expression is a witticism on the word spirit. Spirit means life, and also alcohol (the spirit of full bottles); when the spirit is out the man is dead, and when the bottle is empty its spirit is departed. Also, a loaf of bread smuggled into the basket for the private use of the person who carries the bread out is called a "dead man."

Dead Men's Shoes Waiting for dead men's shoes. Looking out for legacies; looking to stand in the place of some moneyed man when he is dead and buried.

Dead Pan (The). A poem founded on the tradition that at the crucifixion a cry swept across the ocean in the hearing of many, "Great Pan is Dead," and that at the same time the responses of the oracles ceased for ever. Elizabeth Barrett Browning has a poem so called (1844).

Dead Reckoning A calculation of the ship's place without any observation of the heavenly bodies. A guess made by consulting the log, the time, the direction, the wind, and so on. Such a calculation may suffice for many practical purposes, but must not be fully relied on.

Dead Ropes Those which are fixed or do not run on blocks; so called because they have no activity or life in them.

Dead Sea So the Romans called the "Salt Sea." Josephus says that the vale of Siddim was changed into the Dead Sea at the destruction of Sodom (Antiq. i. 8, 3, etc.). The water is of a dull green colour. Few fish are found therein, but it is not true that birds which venture near its vapours fall down dead. The shores are almost barren, but hyenas and other wild beasts lurk there. Called the "Salt Sea" because of its saltness. The percentage of salt in the ocean generally is about three or four, but of the Salt Sea it is twenty-six or more.

Dead-Sea Fruit Fair to the eye, but nauseous to the taste; full of promise, but without reality. (See Apples Of Sodom.)

Dead Set He made a dead set at her. A pointed or decided determination to bring matters to a crisis. The allusion is to a setter dog that has discovered game, and makes a dead set at it.
   To be at a dead set is to be set fast, so as not to be able to move. The allusion is to machinery.
   To make a dead set upon someone is to attack him resolutely, to set upon him; the allusion being to dogs, bulls, etc., set on each other to fight.

Dead Shares In theatrical sharing companies three or more supernumerary shares are so called. The manager has one or more of these shares for his expenses; a star will have another; and sometimes a share, or part of a share, is given to an actor who has brought down the house, or made a hit.

Dead Water The eddy-water closing in with the ship's stern, as she passes through the water. It shifts its place, but is like taking money from one pocket and putting it into another.