"dead man walking" meaning in All languages combined

See dead man walking on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-dead man walking.wav Forms: dead men walking [plural]
Etymology: A phrase traditionally used in U.S. prisons to announce a condemned prisoner being walked to the place of execution. Its use has expanded as a euphemism for anyone facing an impending and unavoidable loss. Head templates: {{en-noun|dead men walking}} dead man walking (plural dead men walking)
  1. A condemned prisoner walking to a death chamber or other place of execution. Categories (topical): People
    Sense id: en-dead_man_walking-en-noun-nCFmw1e7 Disambiguation of People: 32 23 23 21 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 55 3 15 26 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 60 2 9 29 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 65 2 5 29
  2. Someone who is soon to die.
    Sense id: en-dead_man_walking-en-noun-vdVedDGH
  3. (figurative) Someone who is about to face an unavoidable loss (though the person may not realize it). Tags: figuratively
    Sense id: en-dead_man_walking-en-noun-GaHL2dZc
  4. (meteorology, slang) A multivortex tornado typically appearing in the form of a human figure walking. Tags: slang Categories (topical): Meteorology
    Sense id: en-dead_man_walking-en-noun-GTTjUkRB Topics: climatology, meteorology, natural-sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: dead woman walking, dead person walking Related terms: lame duck

Inflected forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "48 3 6 44",
      "word": "dead woman walking"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "48 3 6 44",
      "word": "dead person walking"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A phrase traditionally used in U.S. prisons to announce a condemned prisoner being walked to the place of execution. Its use has expanded as a euphemism for anyone facing an impending and unavoidable loss.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "dead men walking",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "dead men walking"
      },
      "expansion": "dead man walking (plural dead men walking)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "48 3 6 44",
      "word": "lame duck"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "55 3 15 26",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "60 2 9 29",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "65 2 5 29",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "32 23 23 21",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1996, Stephen King, The Green Mile:",
          "text": "It was Percy Wetmore who ushered Coffey onto the block, with the supposedly traditional cry of “Dead man walking! Dead man walking here!”",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A condemned prisoner walking to a death chamber or other place of execution."
      ],
      "id": "en-dead_man_walking-en-noun-nCFmw1e7",
      "links": [
        [
          "condemned",
          "condemned"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 231:",
          "text": "\"So, arrest me,\" Cummings said. \"The fuck do I care? I'm a dead man walking.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone who is soon to die."
      ],
      "id": "en-dead_man_walking-en-noun-vdVedDGH",
      "links": [
        [
          "die",
          "die"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Someone who is about to face an unavoidable loss (though the person may not realize it)."
      ],
      "id": "en-dead_man_walking-en-noun-GaHL2dZc",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) Someone who is about to face an unavoidable loss (though the person may not realize it)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Meteorology",
          "orig": "en:Meteorology",
          "parents": [
            "Atmosphere",
            "Earth sciences",
            "Nature",
            "Sciences",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A multivortex tornado typically appearing in the form of a human figure walking."
      ],
      "id": "en-dead_man_walking-en-noun-GTTjUkRB",
      "links": [
        [
          "meteorology",
          "meteorology"
        ],
        [
          "multivortex",
          "multivortex"
        ],
        [
          "tornado",
          "tornado"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(meteorology, slang) A multivortex tornado typically appearing in the form of a human figure walking."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "climatology",
        "meteorology",
        "natural-sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-dead man walking.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/fb/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-dead_man_walking.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-dead_man_walking.wav.mp3",
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    }
  ],
  "word": "dead man walking"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "en:People"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "dead woman walking"
    },
    {
      "word": "dead person walking"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A phrase traditionally used in U.S. prisons to announce a condemned prisoner being walked to the place of execution. Its use has expanded as a euphemism for anyone facing an impending and unavoidable loss.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "dead men walking",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "dead men walking"
      },
      "expansion": "dead man walking (plural dead men walking)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "lame duck"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1996, Stephen King, The Green Mile:",
          "text": "It was Percy Wetmore who ushered Coffey onto the block, with the supposedly traditional cry of “Dead man walking! Dead man walking here!”",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A condemned prisoner walking to a death chamber or other place of execution."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "condemned",
          "condemned"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 231:",
          "text": "\"So, arrest me,\" Cummings said. \"The fuck do I care? I'm a dead man walking.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone who is soon to die."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "die",
          "die"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Someone who is about to face an unavoidable loss (though the person may not realize it)."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) Someone who is about to face an unavoidable loss (though the person may not realize it)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "en:Meteorology"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A multivortex tornado typically appearing in the form of a human figure walking."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "meteorology",
          "meteorology"
        ],
        [
          "multivortex",
          "multivortex"
        ],
        [
          "tornado",
          "tornado"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(meteorology, slang) A multivortex tornado typically appearing in the form of a human figure walking."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "climatology",
        "meteorology",
        "natural-sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-dead man walking.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/fb/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-dead_man_walking.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-dead_man_walking.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/fb/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-dead_man_walking.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-dead_man_walking.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "dead man walking"
}

Download raw JSONL data for dead man walking meaning in All languages combined (2.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.