dead meat
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
In serious trouble.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Still in motion, but dead meat.’
Seymour Clarke, General Manager of the Great Northern Railway, told the 1869 Parliamentary Select Committee on the transit of animals that his company sent meat from almost all the 197 stations on its lines.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “dead meat” mean?
In serious trouble.
Is “dead meat” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.