dead-pay

noun

Pay drawn for soldiers, or others, really dead, whose names are kept on the payroll.

“c. 1621-1626, Philip Massinger, The Unnatural Combat O you commanders, / That, like me, have no dead-pays.”

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Meanings

noundead-pay (countable and uncountable, plural dead-pays)

plural dead-pays

  1. countableuncountablegovernmentPay drawn for soldiers, or others, really dead, whose names are kept on the payroll.

    c. 1621-1626, Philip Massinger, The Unnatural Combat O you commanders, / That, like me, have no dead-pays.

  2. countableuncountablegovernmentA dead soldier whose pay is illicitly claimed by another person.
Cite this entry
APA

dead-pay. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dead-pay

MLA

“dead-pay.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dead-pay. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dead-pay,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dead-pay.

Source: dead-pay on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.