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Definition of "deadwood" [dead•wood]

  • Dead branches or wood on a tree. (noun)
  • One that is burdensome or superfluous. (noun)
  • Sports Fallen bowling pins that remain on the alley. (noun)
  • Nautical The vertical planking between the keel of a vessel and the sternpost, serving as a reinforcement. (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.

Use "deadwood" in a sentence
  • "He talks to a variety of educators -- including the controversial Washington, D.C., superintendent Michelle Rhee, whose efforts to prune the deadwood from the District of Columbia's dreadful public school system met only resistance from parents at the schools."
  • "We can not fix anything until the deadwood is kicked out of Washington and all perks taken from them."
  • ""We support management to promote more deadwood in pine forests as the level of natural deadwood is generally too low.""