deadwood

[ ded-wood ]

noun

1. the dead branches on a tree; dead branches or trees.
2. useless or burdensome persons or things:

   He cut the deadwood from his staff.

3. (in writing) unnecessary words, phrases, or exposition; expendable verbiage:

   This could be a thoughtful and incisive essay if you get rid of the deadwood.

4. Nautical. a solid construction, serving only as reinforcement, located between the keel of a vessel and the stem or sternpost.
5. Bowling. pins remaining on the alley after having been knocked down by the ball.
6. Cards.
   1. Rummy. cards in a hand that have not been included in sets and are usually counted as points against the holder.
   2. Poker. cards that have been discarded.

deadwood

/ ˈdɛdˌwʊd /

noun

1. dead trees or branches
2. informal.
   a useless person; encumbrance
3. nautical a filler piece between the keel and the stern of a wooden vessel

Word History and Origins

Origin of deadwood¹

First recorded in 1720–30; dead + wood ¹

Example Sentences

One juniper in particular, by the artist Naoki Maeoka, still gives me chills with its wild ribbons of deadwood and manicured clouds of foliage.

From Vox

I thought for a minute that I had put on my Deadwood DVD by mistake.

From The Daily Beast

In 2004, I was in grad school, and Deadwood, The Wire, and The Sopranos were all on HBO.

From The Daily Beast

For the time being, the girls are living with friends in Deadwood, South Dakota.

From The Daily Beast

Milch, who wrote such superb shows as NYPD Blue and Deadwood and also penned Luck, is a disgrace as well.

From The Daily Beast

Ferguson later quipped, "Better plywood leadership than deadwood leadership!"

From The Daily Beast

Mollett's theory is that it is better to cut away every inch of deadwood which is not absolutely necessary for preventing leeway.

From Project Gutenberg

Three hours later Billy and the sobered tenderfoot pulled into Deadwood.

From Project Gutenberg

For the moment Napoleon's little neighbor was troubled by no sense of duty; the only question was how to reach Deadwood.

From Project Gutenberg

Several months before, it had been the custom to send a “treasure-coach” twice a week from Deadwood to Sidney, Nebraska.

From Project Gutenberg

We had a premonition that Elise wouldn't want the deadwood of Jimmie's former Division.

From Project Gutenberg