a dead giveaway

a dead giveaway

A clue, detail, action, etc. that obviously reveals something else. Your shoes are totally sticking out of the blankets! That's a dead giveaway that you're planning on sneaking out as soon as mom says good night to us. The homemade card was a dead giveaway that they had forgotten to buy us a gift. A: "Nothing happened, I swear!" B: "Yeah, right. That scared look on your face is a dead giveaway."
See also: dead, giveaway
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

dead giveaway

something that reveals a fact or an intention completely. The car in the driveway was a dead giveaway that someone was at home.
See also: dead, giveaway
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
See also:
References in periodicals archive ?
For years, archaeologists wondered what these containers held, even though the poppy-seed head was a dead giveaway.
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The 50-year-old actor said that the fact that he's wearing a chick's ring on his finger was probably a dead giveaway, the Mirror reported.
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But because winning the game motivates this bird, rather than saving money, Lesser Jumpers proudly display their gate-crashing success for all to see (a perpetual sly smile is often a dead giveaway).
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The administration's support for the La Raza agenda should be a dead giveaway that the high-profile rotation of a few thousand National Guard troops to the border and the sudden flurry of Customs and Border Patrol raids are simply election-year tactics aimed at winning back the Republican Party's "loyal core" that have abandoned President Bush because of his refusal to protect the border and enforce the law.
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Squishy cork-like bark is a dead giveaway for Abies lasiocarpa arizonica, a variety commonly known as corkbark fir that grows at high elevations in Arizona and New Mexico.
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But the corpse's cold, stiff hand was a dead giveaway. The clerk called the cops.
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Mustaches on single relatives of either sex are a dead giveaway. Uncles who give the original cast album of Hairspray as Christmas gifts this year should be kept under watchful eyes at all times.
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For a kickoff his grey/white beard is real not cotton-wool (a dead giveaway when you're six) and his suit is exquisite.
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A "smoking" system is a dead giveaway that fluid is leaking.
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The chapter headings are a dead giveaway. What is there to say about chapters with headings like: It's a Sin to Get a Mexican Divorce; Chasing Chinchilla Coats; Dad Is Not at the Dining Room Table Any More; The Madness of Two Georges; Read My Hips.
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And the Doc Marten boots were a dead giveaway. Still, at least the bag looked right, Jo.
One of these women is the Princess of Wales. Can you guess which?
THE chubby cheeks and bulldog scowl are a dead giveaway...it's Sir Winston Churchill as a young lad.
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Such behavior is a dead giveaway that the visible disk of these galaxies lies embedded in a much larger and more massive halo of unseen material.
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It wasn't hard to spot Aston, driving around in his souped-up Audi, below - that JLS number plate is a dead giveaway. Hmm, if he can afford such a flash car, he should splash out on a belt to keep his trousers up.
It's Ass-ton Merrygold!
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