stone dead en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From Middle English stone-dede, stan-ded, standed, equivalent to stone + dead. Compare English stone-cold, stonehard, etc.
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) Utterly dead.
'I congratulate you; it was a lovely shot, and mine were vile.' We got out of the boat and ran to the buck, which was shot through the spine and stone dead.
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:[Owner]: No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, ay? Beautiful plumage! [Mr. Praline]: The plumage don't enter into it. It's stone dead.
1969, Monty Python, “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”, in Dead Parrot sketch:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| stone-dead | alternative | lexicographic |
Relateds
Translations (10)
ru мертвее мёртвого (unquestionably dead) · nl morsdood (unquestionably dead) · sv stendöd (unquestionably dead) · ga chomh marbh le hart (unquestionably dead) · da stendød (unquestionably dead) · af morsdood (unquestionably dead) · is steindauður (unquestionably dead) · fr raide mort (unquestionably dead) · de mausetot (unquestionably dead) · nb steindød (unquestionably dead)