deader
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be deader than disco
slang Disco music was very popular in the 1970s, but it eventually fell out of favor and was declared "dead" by rock music enthusiasts.
1. To be unequivocally dead. A: "Is the squirrel dead? Poke it with a stick and check." B: "Yep, it's deader than disco."
2. To be totally outdated. The idea that people spend their entire careers at just one job is deader than disco.
deader than a doornail
Definitively, undeniably dead. (Doornails were hammered in a such a way that they could not be reused.) I poked that squirrel with a stick and, yeah, it's deader than a doornail.
deader than disco
Disco music was very popular in the 1970s but eventually fell out of favor and was declared "dead" by rock music enthusiasts.
1. No longer alive, for certain. A: "Is the squirrel dead? Poke it with a stick and check." B: "Yep, deader than disco."
2. Totally outdated. The idea that people spend their entire careers at just one job is deader than disco.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
*dead as a dodo
and *dead as a doornail; deader than a doornaildead; no longer in existence. (*Also: as ~.) That silly old idea is dead as a dodo. When I tried to start my car this morning, I discovered that the battery was deader than a doornail.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
dead as a dodo
BRITISHIf something is as dead as a dodo, it is no longer active or popular. The foreign exchange market was as dead as a dodo. Note: The dodo was a large flightless bird that lived on the islands of Mauritius and Réunion. It became extinct in the late 17th century as a result of hunting and the destruction of its nests by pigs belonging to settlers on the islands.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
dead as a (or the) dodo
1 no longer alive. 2 no longer effective, valid, or interesting. informalThe name dodo comes from Portuguese duodo meaning ‘simpleton’. It was applied to the large flightless bird of Mauritius because the bird had no fear of man and so was easily killed, being quickly wiped out by visiting European sailors. The dodo's fate has made it proverbial for something that is long dead and the name has been used metaphorically for an old-fashioned, stupid, or unenlightened person since the 19th century.
2000 John Caughie Television Drama The once pleasant family hour is now as dead as a dodo.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017