dead lift

American  

noun

• dead lifts
  plural

1. a direct lifting without any mechanical assistance.

2. a situation that requires all one's strength or ingenuity.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dead lifts
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of dead lift

First recorded in 1545–55

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dead lift

The gut-busting workouts imposed by Sumrall and Whitt centered on four lifts: power clean, bench, squat and dead lift.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

Unless James can juke Father Time and pull off another odds-defying dead lift for the ages.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026

There, she hoisted four 100- to 150-pound sandbags onto her shoulders after completing six reps of a 315-pound dead lift.

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2024

Unharmed but for my ego, I crawled off the fallen bike and tried a few times to dead lift it back to standing.

From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2021

The dead lift of the discipline of the mind is liable to be a deadening process.

From Letters from a Father to His Son Entering College by Charles Franklin Thwing

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