dead hand
Americannoun
noun
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an oppressive or discouraging influence or factor
the dead hand of centralized control
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law a less common word for mortmain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The study group report said Russia has not said whether the upgrade of its nuclear command and control system will result in canceling the dead hand system.
From Washington Times ● May 29, 2023
But the dead hand is not spooky folklore.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2022
It is far better to show interest and creativity from day one than to let yourself be trapped under the dead hand of corporatism.
From Forbes ● Feb. 24, 2014
Free of the dead hand of typecasting, meanwhile, Mark Hamill would have frolicked into the sunlit professional uplands and claimed roles in Apocalypse Now and Raging Bull.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 18, 2011
Then the dust figure rose from the end of the hall and rushed him, raising its dead hand.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
