Definition of "dead weight" [dead weight]

• The unrelieved weight of a heavy, motionless mass. (noun)
• An oppressive burden or difficulty. (noun)
• The fixed weight of a structure or piece of equipment, such as a bridge on its supports. Also called dead load. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "She heard small branches snapping as Cara pulled the dead weight through the brush, and then the muffled thuds and tumbling scree as Tommy Lancaster's body rolled and bounced down a steep slope."
• "Rand heaved himself out from under the dead weight of the Trolloc, half-stunned."
• "I may not be brave, but I'm strong, and exhausted as I was I climbed by my arms alone, hauling my dead weight hand over hand, bumping and scraping against the wall - no work for a weakling, but my mortal funk was such that I could have done it with Henry VIII-on my back."