"dead as Hector" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "Referencing the story of Hector, a Trojan hero in Greek mythology and a character in Homer's Iliad, who leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, and is ultimately killed in single combat by Achilles, who later drags his dead body around the city of Troy behind his chariot.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "dead as Hector (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English similes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1823 July, “Scottish Novels of the Second Class”, in The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany, volume 13, Edinburgh: Printed for Archibald Constable and Company, page 4:",
          "text": "[…] if a man, on coming up to his old friend’s cottage, finds the owner staring him in the face over a stile, all the while as dead as Hector,—still the answer is,—“Why, to be sure, all this is rather absurd; but then, Sir, consider the power.”",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Unquestionably dead."
      ],
      "id": "en-dead_as_Hector-en-adj-t7QVedi5",
      "links": [
        [
          "Unquestionably",
          "unquestionably"
        ],
        [
          "dead",
          "dead"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "simile",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(simile, dated) Unquestionably dead."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "since Hector was a pup"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "dead as a doornail"
        },
        {
          "word": "dead"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Achilles",
        "Hector",
        "Homer",
        "Iliad"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "dead as Hector"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Referencing the story of Hector, a Trojan hero in Greek mythology and a character in Homer's Iliad, who leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, and is ultimately killed in single combat by Achilles, who later drags his dead body around the city of Troy behind his chariot.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "dead as Hector (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "since Hector was a pup"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English adjectives",
        "English dated terms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English eponyms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English similes",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncomparable adjectives",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1823 July, “Scottish Novels of the Second Class”, in The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany, volume 13, Edinburgh: Printed for Archibald Constable and Company, page 4:",
          "text": "[…] if a man, on coming up to his old friend’s cottage, finds the owner staring him in the face over a stile, all the while as dead as Hector,—still the answer is,—“Why, to be sure, all this is rather absurd; but then, Sir, consider the power.”",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Unquestionably dead."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Unquestionably",
          "unquestionably"
        ],
        [
          "dead",
          "dead"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "simile",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(simile, dated) Unquestionably dead."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "dead as a doornail"
        },
        {
          "word": "dead"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Achilles",
        "Hector",
        "Homer",
        "Iliad"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "dead as Hector"
}