dead
[person, animal, plant] mort (e)
→ My husband's been dead for a year.
→ a vase of dead flowers
He was already dead when the doctor came. Il était déjà mort quand le docteur est arrivé.
to be half dead
(=near death) être à moitié mort
→ I'd hit her over 20 times, she was half dead
to look half dead
(=terrible) avoir l'air à moitié mort
→ I thought you looked half dead at dinner
to be shot dead être tué (e) d'un coup de revolver
He was shot dead. Il a été tué d'un coup de revolver.
to drop dead, to drop down dead
(=die suddenly)
[person, animal] tomber mort
→ He dropped dead on the quayside.
drop dead! * va te faire voir * !
to be dead and gone
[person] être mort (e) et enterré (e)
→ I accepted finally that Mother was dead and gone.
over my dead body! * il faudra d'abord me passer sur le corps!
→ I could almost hear Lyle thinking: over my dead body
→ She fetched her rifle and said, `Over my dead body!'
"Let's invite her to dinner." -- "Over my dead body!" "Invitons-la à dîner." -- "Il faudra d'abord que tu me passes sur le corps!"
I wouldn't be seen dead in it, I wouldn't be caught dead in it * je ne la porterais pour rien au monde
(=numb)
[arm, leg] engourdi (e)
to go dead s'engourdir
My leg has gone dead. Ma jambe s'est engourdie.
*
(=very tired) mort (e)
to feel dead se sentir épuisé (e)
to be half dead
(=very tired) être à moitié mort (e) de fatigue
(=devoid of life)
[earth, water] mort (e)
→ mountains of dead earth and stumps of trees
→ The water is dead: polluted and stagnant.
[phone line]
to be dead, The line was dead. Il n'y avait pas de tonalité.
→ He picked up the phone but the line was dead.
to go dead, The line has gone dead. La ligne a été coupée.
[battery] à plat
→ The car won't start; the battery's dead.
(=not burning)
[cigarette, fire] éteint (e)
→ He had a dead cigarette between his fingers.
(=empty)
[bottle] vide
→ This bottle's dead. But we've got another one.
(=finished)
to be dead and buried
[idea, situation] être mort (e) et enterré (e)
to be dead in the water
(=hopeless)
[project] avoir coulé
→ their investigation was already dead in the water
(=total)
[silence] de mort
We sat in dead silence. Nous étions assis dans un silence de mort.
(=absolutely) absolument, complètement
You're dead right! Tu as absolument raison!
to be dead against sth être absolument contre qch, être complètement contre qch
→ He was dead against the idea.
dead on time à l'heure pile
The train arrived dead on time. Le train est arrivé à l'heure pile.
to stop dead
(=halt abruptly) s'arrêter pile, s'arrêter net
→ We all stopped dead, terrified.
to stop sb/sth dead stopper net qn/qch
She stopped him dead. Elle l'a stoppé net.
(=directly)
dead ahead droit devant
→ A fishing boat came out of nowhere, dead ahead.
(=exactly)
dead on target dans le mille
→ Their arrows are dead on target.
in the dead centre of, dead in the centre of au beau milieu de, en plein milieu de
→ The table was placed in the dead centre of the room.
→ Mars was dead in the centre of the telescope.
dead in the middle of au beau milieu de, en plein milieu de
→ It landed dead in the middle of the pond.
*
(=extremely) [easy, boring] super *
→ The house is dead easy to get to.
→ His poems sound dead boring, actually.
dead tired mort (e) de fatigue
→ he was dead tired, almost too tired to eat dinner.
npl
the dead les morts mpl
→ The dead included six soldiers.
→ a festival when Chinese honour the dead
(=middle)
in the dead of night, at the dead of night, at dead of night au cœur de la nuit
→ I flew into the country in the dead of night.
→ We buried it in the garden at dead of night.
in the dead of winter au cœur de l'hiver
→ one Thursday morning in the dead of winter
to rise from the dead
(=be resurrected) ressusciter des morts to rise from the dead, to come back from the dead
(=make a comeback)
[person, organization] refaire surface → Aberdeen coming back from the dead to win at Dundee to raise sb from the dead
(=resurrect) ressusciter qn des morts
brain dead
adj
(=dead) dans un coma dépassé
dead beat , dead-beat
*
adj
(=exhausted) claqué (e) * , crevé (e) *
dead duck *
n
to be a dead duck être fichu (e)
→ The government is a dead duck.
dead end
n
(lit)
[+road, path] impasse f
(fig) impasse f
to reach a dead end être dans une impasse
→ We seem to have reached a dead end.
→
dead-end
dead-end
adj
a dead-end job un emploi sans avenir
dead-head , deadhead
vt (British)
[+plant] couper les fleurs fanées de
Dead-head roses as the blooms fade. Coupez les roses quand elles sont fanées.
n (US)
*
(=idiot) gros bêta m * , nunuche f *
dead heat
n
The race was a dead heat. Ils sont arrivés ex \(ae)quo.
to finish in a dead heat terminer ex \(ae)quo
dead letter
n
to be a dead letter
(=fall into abeyance)
[law, treaty] tomber en désuétude
→ No one does anything about it and the law becomes a dead letter.
The Nice treaty will be a dead letter. Le traité de Nice tombera en désuétude.
dead loss
n
* to be a dead loss
[person] n'être bon (ne) à rien
[thing] ne rien valoir
Dead Sea
n
the Dead Sea la mer Morte
dead weight
n
(=heavy load) poids m mort
→ He hoisted the dead weight over his shoulder.
(fig)
(=burden) poids m mort
→ ... the dead weight of traditional policies.
dead wood
n (fig)
(=people) dinosaures mpl
→ the next manager must clear out the dead wood at the club.
(=things) vieilleries fpl , vieilles reliques fpl
a reshuffle to clear out dead wood un remaniement pour se débarrasser des dinosaures
He has been discarded as dead wood. On l'a rejeté comme étant un dinosaure.
to be dead wood
[person, thing] avoir fait son temps
→ ... the idea that historical linguistics is so much dead wood.
drop-dead *
adv [sexy] vachement *
→ The effect is soft and pretty rather than drop-dead sexy.
drop-dead gorgeous super canon *
→ She said that Campbell-Black was drop-dead gorgeous ...
adj
(=stunning) stupéfiant (e)
→ ... the drop-dead glamour of the designer decade.
half dead , half-dead
adj à moitié mort (e)
→ He felt half dead with tiredness.