dead as a doornail

Idioms  

1. Also,. Totally or assuredly dead; also finished. For example, The cop announced that the body in the dumpster was dead as a doornail, or The radicalism she professed in her adolescence is now dead as a dodo, or The Equal Rights Amendment appears to be dead as a herring. The first, oldest, and most common of these similes, all of which can be applied literally to persons or, more often today, to issues, involves doornail, dating from about 1350. Its meaning is disputed but most likely it referred to the costly metal nails hammered into the outer doors of the wealthy (most people used the much cheaper wooden pegs), which were clinched on the inside of the door and therefore were “dead,” that is, could not be used again. Dead as a herring dates from the 16th century and no doubt alludes to the bad smell this dead fish gives off, making its death quite obvious. Dead as a dodo, referring to the extinct bird, dates from the early 1900s.

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Example Sentences

The atmosphere in the O2 was as dead as a doornail hammered into a Dodo and buried in a concrete bunker.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2024

As then-Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky put it: “It’s dead as a doornail out there.”

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 19, 2023

"When they opened that coffin, there he was, dead as a doornail."

From Fox News • Jan. 1, 2022

"He's dead as a doornail," Trump continued, prompting laughter from the audience.

From Salon • Oct. 28, 2019

The Son of God was dead as a doornail.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut