What is "dead hand"

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.

   The crew, all except himself, were dead of hunger.
   --Arbuthnot.

   Seek him with candle, bring him dead or living.
   --Shak.

2. Destitute of life; inanimate; as, dead matter.

3. Resembling death in appearance or quality; without show of life; deathlike; as, a dead sleep.

4. Still as death; motionless; inactive; useless; as, dead calm; a dead load or weight.

5. So constructed as not to transmit sound; soundless; as, a dead floor.

6. Unproductive; bringing no gain; unprofitable; as, dead capital; dead stock in trade.

7. Lacking spirit; dull; lusterless; cheerless; as, dead eye; dead fire; dead color, etc.

8. Monotonous or unvaried; as, a dead level or pain; a dead wall. ``The ground is a dead flat.''
   --C. Reade.

9. Sure as death; unerring; fixed; complete; as, a dead shot; a dead certainty.

   I had them a dead bargain.
   --Goldsmith.

10. Bringing death; deadly.
    --Shak.

11. Wanting in religious spirit and vitality; as, dead faith; dead works. ``Dead in trespasses.''
    --Eph. ii. 1.

12. (Paint.)

    1. Flat; without gloss; -- said of painting which has been applied purposely to have this effect.

    2. Not brilliant; not rich; thus, brown is a dead color, as compared with crimson.

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.

14. (Mach.) Not imparting motion or power; as, the dead spindle of a lathe, etc. See Spindle.

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.

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. 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.

    1. An unerring marksman.

    2. 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.

       1. A heavy or oppressive burden.
          --Dryden.

       2. (Shipping) A ship's lading, when it consists of heavy goods; or, the heaviest part of a ship's cargo.

    3. (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.]

       I deme thee, thou must algate be dead.
       --Chaucer.

       Syn: Inanimate; deceased; extinct. See Lifeless.

1. n. real property held inalienably (as by an ecclesiastical corporation) [syn: mortmain]

2. the oppressive influence of past events of decisions [syn: dead hand of the past, mortmain]

Dead hand can refer to:

• Dead Hand (nuclear war), a Soviet weapons-control system used as a deterrent during the Cold War
• The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy, 2009 book by David E. Hoffman
• Dead hand (mini-boss), a sub-boss in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• The Dead Hand, original title of one of the short stories comprising the original Foundation Trilogy
• Dead man's hand poker hand allegedly held by Wild Bill Hickok at the time of his murder
• Mortmain, a legal term, literally 'Dead Hand' in French
• "Dead hand", a legal term referring to control of an estate by a decedent; see Rule Against Perpetuities
• The Dead Hand Series of books by Upton Sinclair, of which the first was The Profits of Religion (1917)

Dead Hand (, Systema "Perimetr", GRAU Index 15E601, Cyrillic: 15Э601), also known as Perimeter, was a Cold-War-era nuclear-control system used by the Soviet Union. General speculation from insiders alleges that the system remains in use in post-Soviet Russia. An example of fail-deadly deterrence, it can automatically trigger the launch of the Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) if a nuclear strike is detected by seismic, light, radioactivity and overpressure sensors. By most accounts, it is normally switched off and is supposed to be activated during dangerous crises only; however, it is said to remain fully functional and able to serve its purpose whenever it may be needed.