dead hand

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noun Law.

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In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

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candypuff

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Words nearby dead hand

deadfall, dead fingers, dead firing, dead freight, dead from the neck up, dead hand, deadhead, Dead Heart, dead heat, dead horse, dead in one's tracks

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use dead hand in a sentence

Why should the dead hand of an Augustine or Calvin be exempt from giving its authority?
The Arena|Various
It drew sustainment from the dead hand in his grasp, and cowered down to the earth claiming all we touch.
Lord Ormont and his Aminta, Complete|George Meredith
The hand held a bit of paper, at which I blankly stared, thinking it held by a dead hand.
Shadow, the Mysterious Detective|Police Captain Howard
All one night a dead hand lay across my throat, but I could not disengage my hands to remove it.
Peak's Island|Ford Paul

Again she saw, through the blinding mist of her tears, Guy Kenmore extricating the fragment of paper from the dead hand.
Guy Kenmore's Wife and The Rose and the Lily|Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller

British Dictionary definitions for dead hand

dead hand

noun

an oppressive or discouraging influence or factorthe dead hand of centralized control

law a less common word for mortmain

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012