dead heat

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noun

a race in which two or more competitors finish in a tie.

the result of such a race; tie.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of dead heat

First recorded in 1790–1800

Words nearby dead heat

dead freight, dead from the neck up, dead hand, deadhead, Dead Heart, dead heat, dead horse, dead in one's tracks, dead in the water, dead key, dead languages

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

How to use dead heat in a sentence

It was an outlier compared with the average, which showed a dead heat, but — as with a number of her outlier polls — it proved correct.
Politics Podcast: How To Make Polls Better|Galen Druke|December 4, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
Recent polls indicated that Tuesday’s contest is a statistical dead heat.
Voting Rights Still Unfinished Business on Prairie View’s Agenda|Truthbetold|November 1, 2020|TruthBeTold.news
Those contests are in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and even Texas, which are polling closer to a dead heat.
Politics Podcast: The Most Competitive Races In 2020|Galen Druke|October 20, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
The cartoonist, better known as Charb, was shot dead Wednesday.
France Kills Charlie Hebdo Murderers|Nico Hines|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

A policewoman was shot dead this morning while law enforcement searched for the Charlie Lebdo killers.
France Mourns—and Hunts|Nico Hines, Christopher Dickey|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Absent a body, no one can say with absolute certainty whether Castro is dead, even if all signs point in that direction.
An Informant, a Missing American, and Juarez’s House of Death: Inside the 12-Year Cold Case of David Castro|Bill Conroy|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But while he was up there riffing about Steiger, he looked like he did in the Big Heat.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The movie we went to that Friday night in 1953 was The Big Heat.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A little boy of four was moved to passionate grief at the sight of a dead dog taken from a pond.
Children's Ways|James Sully
The heat of drunkenness is the stumblingblock of the fool, lessening strength and causing wounds.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
It was very warm, and for a while they did nothing but exchange remarks about the heat, the sun, the glare.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
Tobacco is a strong growing plant resisting heat and drought to a far (p. 018) greater extent than most plants.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
When he plays a sonata it is as if the composition rose from the dead and stood transfigured before you.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay

British Dictionary definitions for dead heat

dead heat

noun

a race or contest in which two or more participants tie for first place
a tie between two or more contestants in any position

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with dead heat

dead heat

A contest in which the competitors are equally matched and neither can win; a tie. For example, The two companies are in a dead heat to get a new personal computer on the market. This term comes from 18th-century British horse racing and is still part of racing terminology. It later was transferred to other kinds of competition.

dead heat

Origin of dead heat

Words nearby dead heat

Words related to dead heat

How to use dead heat in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for dead heat

Other Idioms and Phrases with dead heat