as dead as a doornail
Related to as dead as a doornail: at one fell swoop
(as) dead as a doornail
1. Definitively 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 as dead as a doornail.
2. Totally defunct. That idea from last week's meeting is dead as a doornail now that the CEO has vetoed it.
See also: dead, doornail
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
as dead as a doornail
Really dead. Doornails, which provided strength and decoration, were hammered into the wood and then clenched for additional grip. Because a doornail was bent, it could not be used again, which made it even deader. A more recent phrase is “as dead as last year's tennis balls.” In the era before year-round indoor tennis, they would have lost their bounce before the start of the next season.
See also: dead, doornail
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
- (as) dead as a doornail
- dead as a doornail
- doornail
- herring
- (as) dead as a herring
- (as) dead as mutton
- mutton
- dead as mutton
- be dead in the water
- dead in the water