dead in the water

adjective

Stationary with respect to the current, having no means of propulsion.

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Meanings

adjectivedead in the water (not comparable)
  1. literallynot comparablenauticalStationary with respect to the current, having no means of propulsion.

    Unaware of her compatriots' fate, Aaron Ward found herself staring down the gun barrels of Kirishima, a fight that did not end well for the destroyer, which was soon dead in the water.

    2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 22:59 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN), archived from the original on 07 Nov 2022
  2. figurativelynot comparableDoomed; unable to succeed.

    Each case I handle convinces me further that marriage is dead in the water.

    2004, Aline Brosh McKenna, Robert Harling, Laws of Attraction, spoken by Audrey Woods (Julianne Moore)
    3 more examples

    I'm afraid we have to inform the Prime Minister that Operation Undertow is dead in the water.

    1981, Richard Maibaum, Michael G. Wilson, Ian Fleming, For Your Eyes Only, spoken by Frederick Gray (Geoffrey Keen)

    Lambie said the crossbench had been clear it also wanted a better approvals process in place before the end of the year, but the minister’s reforms would be “dead in the water if she doesn’t tighten up the standards”.

    2021 June 16, Adam Morton, quoting Jacqui Lambie, “‘Dead in the water’: key crossbenchers reject Coalition demand to back new environment standards”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

    Priti Patel’s plans to send back small boats carrying migrants in the Channel are already “dead in the water”, an immigration workers’ union has said.

    2021 September 9, Jamie Grierson, “Patel’s plans to send migrant boats back to France unworkable, union says”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

Translations

Finnish tuuliajolla
  • tuuliajollawithout inertia
French sans erre
  • sans errewithout inertia
Cite this entry
APA

dead in the water. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dead%20in%20the%20water

MLA

“dead in the water.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dead%20in%20the%20water. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dead in the water,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dead%20in%20the%20water.

Source: dead in the water on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.