dead man's hand

American  

noun

Poker.

1. a hand containing the two pairs of two aces and two eights.

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Example Sentences

There’s even a sly reference to “aces and eights,” poker-playing Wild Bill Hickok’s famous dead man’s hand.

From Los Angeles Times

Consider Crystal Weimer, a single mother of three whose murder conviction was largely based on assertions that wounds on a dead man’s hand were made by Weimer’s teeth.

From Nature

“Dinosaurs found themselves holding basically a dead man's hand,” Erickson said.

From Washington Post

When the asteroid hit, “dinosaurs were basically caught holding bad cards—a dead man’s hand,” Erickson says.

From Science Magazine

The term comes from the dead man’s hand, the fabled poker hand containing both black aces and two eights.

From New York Times