deadwood
[ ded-woo d ]
/ ˈdɛdˌwʊd /
noun
the dead branches on a tree; dead branches or trees.
useless or burdensome persons or things: He cut the deadwood from his staff.
(in writing) unnecessary words, phrases, or exposition; expendable verbiage.
Nautical. a solid construction, serving only as reinforcement, located between the keel of a vessel and the stem or sternpost.
Bowling. pins remaining on the alley after having been knocked down by the ball.
Cards.
- Rummy. cards in a hand that have not been included in sets and are usually counted as points against the holder.
- Poker. cards that have been discarded.
RELATED WORDS
unnecessary, peripheral, petty, inessential, dispensable, excessive, expendable, extraneous, insignificant, superfluous, trivial, unimportant, hanger-on, lagniappe, spare, superfluity, triviality
Nearby words
- deadman,
- deadpan,
- deadrise,
- deadweight,
- deadweight tonnage,
- deadwork,
- deaerate,
- deaf,
- deaf aid,
- deaf as a post
Origin of deadwood
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for deadwood
deadwood
/ (ˈdɛdˌwʊd) /
noun
dead trees or branches
informal a useless person; encumbrance
nautical a filler piece between the keel and the stern of a wooden vessel
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
deadwood
1887 in figurative sense of "useless person or thing," originally American English, from dead (adj.) + wood (n.). Dead wood in a forest is useful as firewood; perhaps the reference here is to the dried up parts of plants grown for commercial production of flowers or fruit.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper