Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
in poker, pair of aces and pair of eights, supposedly what Wild Bill Hickock held when Jack McCall shot him in 1876.
Wiktionary
n. (context poker English) A pair of aces and a pair of eights (especially, the black aces and eights), in a player's hand.
Wikipedia
The makeup of poker's dead man's hand has varied through the years. Currently, the dead man's hand is described as a two-pair poker hand consisting of the black aces and black eights. Along with an unknown " hole" card, these were the cards reportedly held by " Old West" folk hero, lawman and gunfighter, Wild Bill Hickok when he was murdered.
Dead Man's Hand is a 2004 first-person shooter video game set in the American Old West developed by Human Head Studios.
The dead man's hand is a two-pair poker hand of "aces and eights" allegedly held by Wild Bill Hickok at the time of his murder.
Dead man's hand may also refer to:
- Dead Man's Hand (video game), a 2004 first-person shooter
- Dead Man's Hand, a 2013 miniatures game by Great Escape Games
- Dead Man's Hand (1990), seventh in the Wild Cards book series
- Dead Man's Hand (film), a 2007 film
Dead Man's Hand is a 2007 film directed by Charles Band.
Usage examples of "dead man's hand".
As if picking lice off herself, she removed the dead man's hand from her hair finger by finger.
He had stood before it for several minutes, studying its position, and had even bent over the outstretched arm on the table as if to see just how the dead man's hand was holding the book.
Eachern snapped, bending down to take the knife from the dead man's hand.
When the folds were drawn down Hugh let out a sharp whistle of surprise, for in the dead man's hand was a long poniard, the naked blade grooved, and ornamented with gilding near the hilt.
The object falls from the dead man's hand, and Gregorius glances at it as he kicks by to the stairwell.
John the Night Tripper, Joan Baez, the Dead Man's Hand, Joker and the One-Eyed Jacks, Peyote Woman, the Heavenly Blues, the Golems, the Supreme Awakening, the Seven Types of Ambiguity, the Cold War, the Street Fighters, the Bank Burners, the Slaves of Satan, the Domino Theory, and Maxwell and His Demons.
Diomed's rein was still in the dead man's hand, but somehow the body would not fall from the mare's saddle and she was screaming in fear as her rider's blood splashed across her face.
Once again she watched as the narrow dead man's hand reached in and began to stir the contents of the wicker body-box - a box which had perhaps once held the corpses of infants or very small children.
Once again she watched as the narrow dead man's hand reached in and began to stir the contents of the wicker body-box —.