deadmann.
1. (deadman). = dead man: formerly written and pronounced as one word. (Cf. blindman n.) Obsolete except in names, as Deadman's Walk.
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the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [noun]
the holy soulsc950
the deadc1000
dead1340
deadmana1400
the defunct1548
sleeper1590
gone?1614
grave-fellow1642
under-dead1648
the deceased1673
the majority1721
the departed1722
the dear departed1814
sleeper1827
goner1836
gone coon1837
silent majority1874
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 11503 A smerl o selcuth bitturnes, þat dedman cors wit smerld es.
c1440 Gesta Romanorum (Add. MS.) lxx. 387 Atte derige of a dedeman that laye on the bere.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. v. 12 The strait passe was damm'd With deadmen . View more context for this quotation
II. Used in various figurative applications and combinations; chiefly in plural. (See also following entries.)
2. plural (dead men). Empty bottles (at a drinking-bout, etc.). slang or colloquial.
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the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > [noun] > bottle > empty
deadmen1699
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Dead-men, empty Pots or bottles on a Tavern-table.
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 188 Let him carry off the dead Men, as we say in the Army (Meaning the empty Bottles).
1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 151 The wine bin surrounded by a regiment of dead men.
1853 W. M. Thackeray Eng. Humourists iii. 154 Fresh bottles were brought, the ‘dead men’..removed.
3. slang. (See quot. 1873.)
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the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > cook > [noun] > baker
baxterOE
bakerOE
dougher1314
furnera1483
cake baxter1503
furnitor1601
Master of the Rolls1649
deadman1764
bakerdom1862
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > stolen goods > [noun] > article of > specific
deadman1764
stop thief!1857
prat poke1924
1764 T. Legg Low-life (ed. 3) 40 Journeymen Bakers..are casting up what Dead-Men they cheated their Masters of the past Week.
1819 T. Moore Tom Crib's Memorial to Congress 16 Dead men are bakers, so called from the loaves falsely charged to their master's customers.
1873 Slang Dict. Dead-man, a baker. Properly speaking, it is an extra loaf smuggled into the basket by the man who carries it out, to the loss of the master. Sometimes the dead-man is charged to a customer, though never delivered.
4.
a. Cards. A dummy at whist.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > whist > [noun] > dummy hand
dummy1736
deadman1786
1786 H. Mackenzie Lounger No. 79. ⁋13 As if one should..sit down with three dead men at whist.
b. dialect or slang. A scarecrow.
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the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > causing physical symptoms > [noun] > scarecrow or device for scaring birds
buga1425
scarlec1440
scare1530
blencher1531
shail1531
fray-boggard1535
malkinc1565
clacket1594
bogle-bo1603
scarecrow1606
blinks1611
clap-mill1613
shaw-fowl1621
dudman1670
hobidy-booby?1710
cherry-clapper1763
flay-crake1788
potato-bogle1815
cherry-clack1824
feather-piea1825
flay-crow1824
gally-baggar1825
gally-crow1825
bogle1830
deadman1839
hodmandod1881
scarer1930
1839 G. C. Lewis Gloss. Words Herefordshire 31 Dead Man, a scarecrow.
1889 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang I. 299/2 Dead man,..(Popular), a scarecrow; a man made of rags.
5. Nautical (plural) ‘The reef or gasket-ends carelessly left dangling under the yard when the sail is furled, instead of being tucked in’ (Adm. Smyth).
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society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > [noun] > reducing extent of sail > a reef
reef1336
strake1399
deadman1825
1825 W. N. Glascock Naval Sketch-bk. (1826) I. 11 Why don't they tuck-in those ‘dead-men’ out of sight!
6.
a. technical. Any of various objects buried in or secured to the ground and used as an anchorage or leverage (see quots.).
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the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > supporting blocks > buried underground as anchorage
deadmana1852
stay-block1876
a1852 W. T. Spurdens Forby's Vocab. E. Anglia (1858) III. 12 Deadman, a piece of timber buried in the earth, to secure posts, or other timbers by.
1901 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 15 Oct. 5/4 A deck hand..was killed by being struck on the head by a ‘dead man’, which is a post imbedded on a [river gravel] bar to haul the steamer over.
1930 Engineering 28 Nov. 667/3 The sand..was levelled by the scraper pulled along by tackle attached to a dead man.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 226/2 Deadman, the concrete, plate, or other anchorage for land ties.
1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Jan. 61/3 Where it is difficult to obtain ground hold for fence strainer posts, such as in swamps or rocky hill country, fences may be strained with a ‘deadman’, and the strainer post should be cast [of concrete] with wire holes suitably placed.
b. Logging. (See quot.)
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1905 Terms Forestry & Logging (Bull. U.S. Dept. Agric., Bureau Forestry, No. 61) 34 Deadman, a fallen tree on the shore, or a timber to which the hawser of a boom is attached.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1894; most recently modified version published online December 2019).
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