dead weight
noun, adverb
Forms dead weights deadweight
- noun Unremitting heavy weight that does not move.
- noun (nautical) 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.
- noun (construction) A dead load.
- noun (figuratively) That which is useless or excess; that which slows something down. “She wants to shed the dead weight of so many stacks of old clutter.”
- noun (rail transport) 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.
- adverb (of a shot in snooker or other cue sports) With just enough weight for a ball to drop into a pocket, or come to rest in a precisely determined position. “He rolled the red in dead weight, and now he's nicely on the blue.”
Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “dead weight”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details