'Dead set' definitions:

Definition of 'dead set'

adjective

Fixed in your purpose; "bent on going to the theater"; "dead set against intervening"; "out to win every event" [syn: bent, bent on(p), dead set(p), out to(p)]

Definition of 'Dead set'

From: GCIDE

Set \Set\, n.
1. The act of setting, as of the sun or other heavenly body; descent; hence, the close; termination. "Locking at the set of day." --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
The weary sun hath made a golden set. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
2. That which is set, placed, or fixed. Specifically: (a) A young plant for growth; as, a set of white thorn. (b) That which is staked; a wager; a venture; a stake; hence, a game at venture. [Obs. or R.] [1913 Webster]
We will in France, by God's grace, play a set Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
That was but civil war, an equal set. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] (c) (Mech.) Permanent change of figure in consequence of excessive strain, as from compression, tension, bending, twisting, etc.; as, the set of a spring. [1913 Webster] (d) A kind of punch used for bending, indenting, or giving shape to, metal; as, a saw set. [1913 Webster] (e) (Pile Driving) A piece placed temporarily upon the head of a pile when the latter cannot be reached by the weight, or hammer, except by means of such an intervening piece. [Often incorrectly written sett.] [1913 Webster] (f) (Carp.) A short steel spike used for driving the head of a nail below the surface. Called also nail set. [1913 Webster +PJC]
3. [Perhaps due to confusion with sect, sept.] A number of things of the same kind, ordinarily used or classed together; a collection of articles which naturally complement each other, and usually go together; an assortment; a suit; as, a set of chairs, of china, of surgical or mathematical instruments, of books, etc. [In this sense, sometimes incorrectly written sett.] [1913 Webster]
4. A number of persons associated by custom, office, common opinion, quality, or the like; a division; a group; a clique. "Others of our set." --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
This falls into different divisions, or sets, of nations connected under particular religions. --R. P. Ward. [1913 Webster]
5. Direction or course; as, the set of the wind, or of a current. [1913 Webster]
6. In dancing, the number of persons necessary to execute a quadrille; also, the series of figures or movements executed. [1913 Webster]
7. The deflection of a tooth, or of the teeth, of a saw, which causes the the saw to cut a kerf, or make an opening, wider than the blade. [1913 Webster]
8. (a) A young oyster when first attached. (b) Collectively, the crop of young oysters in any locality. [1913 Webster]
9. (Tennis) A series of as many games as may be necessary to enable one side to win six. If at the end of the tenth game the score is a tie, the set is usually called a deuce set, and decided by an application of the rules for playing off deuce in a game. See Deuce. [1913 Webster]
10. (Type Founding) That dimension of the body of a type called by printers the width. [1913 Webster]
11. (Textiles) Any of various standards of measurement of the fineness of cloth; specif., the number of reeds in one inch and the number of threads in each reed. The exact meaning varies according to the location where it is used. Sometimes written sett. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
12. A stone, commonly of granite, shaped like a short brick and usually somewhat larger than one, used for street paving. Commonly written sett. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
13. Camber of a curved roofing tile. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
14. The manner, state, or quality of setting or fitting; fit; as, the set of a coat. [Colloq.] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
15. Any collection or group of objects considered together. [PJC]
Dead set. (a) The act of a setter dog when it discovers the game, and remains intently fixed in pointing it out. (b) A fixed or stationary condition arising from obstacle or hindrance; a deadlock; as, to be at a dead set. (c) A concerted scheme to defraud by gaming; a determined onset.
To make a dead set, to make a determined onset, literally or figuratively. [1913 Webster]
Syn: Collection; series; group. See Pair. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Dead set'

From: GCIDE

Dead \Dead\ (d[e^]d), a. [OE. ded, dead, deed, AS. de['a]d; akin to OS. d[=o]d, D. dood, G. todt, tot, Icel. dau[eth]r, Sw. & Dan. d["o]d, Goth. daubs; prop. p. p. of an old verb meaning to die. See Die, and cf. Death.]
1. Deprived of life; -- opposed to alive and living; reduced to that state of a being in which the organs of motion and life have irrevocably ceased to perform their functions; as, a dead tree; a dead man. "The queen, my lord, is dead." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
The crew, all except himself, were dead of hunger. --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster]
Seek him with candle, bring him dead or living. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
2. Destitute of life; inanimate; as, dead matter. [1913 Webster]
3. Resembling death in appearance or quality; without show of life; deathlike; as, a dead sleep. [1913 Webster]
4. Still as death; motionless; inactive; useless; as, dead calm; a dead load or weight. [1913 Webster]
5. So constructed as not to transmit sound; soundless; as, a dead floor. [1913 Webster]
6. Unproductive; bringing no gain; unprofitable; as, dead capital; dead stock in trade. [1913 Webster]
7. Lacking spirit; dull; lusterless; cheerless; as, dead eye; dead fire; dead color, etc. [1913 Webster]
8. Monotonous or unvaried; as, a dead level or pain; a dead wall. "The ground is a dead flat." --C. Reade. [1913 Webster]
9. Sure as death; unerring; fixed; complete; as, a dead shot; a dead certainty. [1913 Webster]
I had them a dead bargain. --Goldsmith. [1913 Webster]
10. Bringing death; deadly. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
11. Wanting in religious spirit and vitality; as, dead faith; dead works. "Dead in trespasses." --Eph. ii. 1. [1913 Webster]
12. (Paint.) (a) Flat; without gloss; -- said of painting which has been applied purposely to have this effect. (b) Not brilliant; not rich; thus, brown is a dead color, as compared with crimson. [1913 Webster]
13. (Law) Cut off from the rights of a citizen; deprived of the power of enjoying the rights of property; as, one banished or becoming a monk is civilly dead. [1913 Webster]
14. (Mach.) Not imparting motion or power; as, the dead spindle of a lathe, etc. See Spindle. [1913 Webster]
15. (Elec.) Carrying no current, or producing no useful effect; -- said of a conductor in a dynamo or motor, also of a telegraph wire which has no instrument attached and, therefore, is not in use. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
16. Out of play; regarded as out of the game; -- said of a ball, a piece, or a player under certain conditions in cricket, baseball, checkers, and some other games.
[In golf], a ball is said to lie dead when it lies so near the hole that the player is certain to hole it in the next stroke. --Encyc. of Sport. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Dead ahead (Naut.), directly ahead; -- said of a ship or any object, esp. of the wind when blowing from that point toward which a vessel would go.
Dead angle (Mil.), an angle or space which can not be seen or defended from behind the parapet.
Dead block, either of two wooden or iron blocks intended to serve instead of buffers at the end of a freight car.
Dead calm (Naut.), no wind at all.
Dead center, or Dead point (Mach.), either of two points in the orbit of a crank, at which the crank and connecting rod lie a straight line. It corresponds to the end of a stroke; as, A and B are dead centers of the crank mechanism in which the crank C drives, or is driven by, the lever L.
Dead color (Paint.), a color which has no gloss upon it.
Dead coloring (Oil paint.), the layer of colors, the preparation for what is to follow. In modern painting this is usually in monochrome.
Dead door (Shipbuilding), a storm shutter fitted to the outside of the quarter-gallery door.
Dead flat (Naut.), the widest or midship frame.
Dead freight (Mar. Law), a sum of money paid by a person who charters a whole vessel but fails to make out a full cargo. The payment is made for the unoccupied capacity. --Abbott.
Dead ground (Mining), the portion of a vein in which there is no ore.
Dead hand, a hand that can not alienate, as of a person civilly dead. "Serfs held in dead hand." --Morley. See Mortmain.
Dead head (Naut.), a rough block of wood used as an anchor buoy.
Dead heat, a heat or course between two or more race horses, boats, etc., in which they come out exactly equal, so that neither wins.
Dead horse, an expression applied to a debt for wages paid in advance. [Law]
Dead language, a language which is no longer spoken or in common use by a people, and is known only in writings, as the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
Dead plate (Mach.), a solid covering over a part of a fire grate, to prevent the entrance of air through that part.
Dead pledge, a mortgage. See Mortgage.
Dead point. (Mach.) See Dead center.
Dead reckoning (Naut.), the method of determining the place of a ship from a record kept of the courses sailed as given by compass, and the distance made on each course as found by log, with allowance for leeway, etc., without the aid of celestial observations.
Dead rise, the transverse upward curvature of a vessel's floor.
Dead rising, an elliptical line drawn on the sheer plan to determine the sweep of the floorheads throughout the ship's length.
Dead-Sea apple. See under Apple.
Dead set. See under Set.
Dead shot. (a) An unerring marksman. (b) A shot certain to be made.
Dead smooth, the finest cut made; -- said of files.
Dead wall (Arch.), a blank wall unbroken by windows or other openings.
Dead water (Naut.), the eddy water closing in under a ship's stern when sailing.
Dead weight. (a) A heavy or oppressive burden. --Dryden. (b) (Shipping) A ship's lading, when it consists of heavy goods; or, the heaviest part of a ship's cargo. (c) (Railroad) The weight of rolling stock, the live weight being the load. --Knight.
Dead wind (Naut.), a wind directly ahead, or opposed to the ship's course.
To be dead, to die. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
I deme thee, thou must algate be dead. --Chaucer.
Syn: Inanimate; deceased; extinct. See Lifeless. [1913 Webster]

Words containing 'Dead set'

To make a dead set