deadbeat

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dead beat

adjective Totally exhausted or fatigued. (Not to be confused with "deadbeat," a lazy, feckless, and/or negligent person.) I was dead beat after working my third 12-hour shift in a row.

deadbeat dad

Slang A father who is not involved in the lives of his child(ren), physically and/or monetarily. Don't be a deadbeat dad, Sean—go see your kids this weekend! I'm no deadbeat dad, I make all of my child support payments!

dead beat

1. Defeated; also exhausted. For example, That horse was dead beat before the race even began, or, as Charles Dickens put it in Martin Chuzzlewit (1843): "Pull off my boots for me ... I am quite knocked up. Dead beat." [Slang; first half of 1800s]

2. Also, deadbeat. A lazy person or loafer; also, one who does not pay debts. For example, Her housemate knew she was a deadbeat, shirking her share of the chores, or He's a deadbeat; don't count on getting that money back. [Slang; second half of 1800s]

deadbeat

n. someone who doesn’t pay debts or bills. Some deadbeat with the same name as mine is ruining my credit rating.

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References in periodicals archive ?

Loads with different characteristics are added to the output end of the post-grid-connected stage in order to compare the conventional deadbeat control method and the fuzzy control-based deadbeat control method.

Application of Fuzzy Control in a Photovoltaic Grid-Connected Inverter

The number of a deadbeat controller's steps increases by two compared with a simple deadbeat controller.

Deadbeat Controller with Two Additional Steps

Forster, who says he has been very involved in all of his children's lives as a loving, committed father, said he is the opposite of a deadbeat dad.

Forster targeted by anonymous robocalls

The entire system is composed of a maximum power tracking MPPT controller, DC voltage, and AC current PI controller deadbeat controller.

Research on a new control scheme of photovoltaic grid power generation system

The worst kinds of deadbeats are the ones who rob you twice; they accept payments from insurance companies and then spend the money themselves.

Dealing with deadbeats

(See "Money for Nothing," October 2002.) It turned out that, while those agencies had gotten much better at collecting child support firm deadbeat parents--through payroll deductions, seizures of 'tax refunds, and other methods adopted during the late 1990s--they weren't very good at getting that money in those for whom it was intended.

Parents, trapped

But one that often gets overlooked is the deadbeat client--a customer who skips out on the bill once products or services have been delivered.

Getting paid: collections firm make debtors an offer they can't refuse

The list of deadbeat lawmakers includes the names of veteran politicians from both ruling and opposition parties such as Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda and several others from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet, as well as Naoto Kan, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

LEAD: 6 more lawmakers failed to pay pension premiums

"Virginia is like a deadbeat parent who is delinquent on child support payments.

Virginia Education Association

The relatively strong Democratic Party showing in the polls has investors considering the possibility of a policy shift toward a "hard landing" scenario, as the Democratic policy platform is less friendly toward banks and their deadbeat borrowers.

The Bloom is off the boom, and the Yen also rises: our analyst sees the market dipping as currencies play power games

Some of this money is being used for things like tracking down deadbeat dads and making them pay child support--a laudable goal few would quibble with.

Marriage mandate: are church and state headed for a shotgun wedding? (Perspective)

In today's business environment, business owners and bill collectors can't threaten deadbeat clients with concrete galoshes if they don't pay their past-due bills.

Collecting from deadbeat clients. (Finance)

He's due at least that much, he says, because the motion for child support "was filed for the sole purpose of damaging [him] and resulted in at least one article in the local newspaper accusing [him] of being a 'deadbeat,' and multiple reports to collection agencies and credit reporting bureaus."

DeHaven's Response

Family practitioners occasionally run into the deadbeat parent who simply refuses to obey the order directing payment of support.

Frustrated by a deadbeat parent? Try invoking the dog law

In May 1998 the Montana Revenue Department began publicizing the names of the state's worst deadbeat taxpayers, in hopes of clearing 5 percent of those listed.