dead beat
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Related to dead beat: dead beat dads
dead beat
slang Totally exhausted or fatigued. (Not to be confused with "deadbeat," a lazy, feckless, or negligent person.) I was dead beat after working my third 12-hour shift in a row. After traveling for almost 24 hours straight, the whole tour group was dead beat. I'm usually dead beat by the time I get home after going to the gym after work, so I just eat dinner and go to bed.
deadbeat
1. noun A lazy, feckless, or negligent person. Sarah's brother, Tom, is a total deadbeat. He's been sponging off their parents for years. A: "Did you hear that Janet broke up with her boyfriend?" B: "Good—that deadbeat was really dragging her down." My mom really pushed me to finish high school because she knew I'd become a total deadbeat if I dropped out.
2. noun Someone who habitually avoids or evades their debts or responsibilities. Authorities announced new measures aimed at deadbeats who skip out on their tax bill each year. My dad was a deadbeat. He didn't want to deal with being a parent, so he left me and my mom when I was a baby. I'm not trying to be a deadbeat, I just don't have the money to pay everyone back right now!
3. adjective Of or indicating such a person. I might not live with my kids anymore, but I'm no deadbeat dad—I make all of my child support payments and help take care of them whenever I can! Loan your deadbeat brother money? Ha, I don't think so! Matt is nothing like his deadbeat parents, and thank goodness for that!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
dead beat
1. Defeated; also exhausted. For example, That horse was dead beat before the race even began, or, as Charles Dickens put it in Martin Chuzzlewit (1843): "Pull off my boots for me ... I am quite knocked up. Dead beat." [Slang; first half of 1800s]
2. Also, deadbeat. A lazy person or loafer; also, one who does not pay debts. For example, Her housemate knew she was a deadbeat, shirking her share of the chores, or He's a deadbeat; don't count on getting that money back. [Slang; second half of 1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.