dead still, adverbial phrase
- Origin:
- English, Dutch, AfrikaansShow more English, influenced by Dutch (later Afrikaans) doodstil completely silent, dood dead + stil silent.
Completely motionless.
- Note:
- Although recorded in general English usage, ‘dead still’ is particularly common in South African English because of the influence of the Afrikaans word.
1835 J.W.D. Moodie Ten Yrs in S. Afr. II. 177We..remained ‘dead still’ till they came within shot, when we fired all together and killed them on the spot.
1991 Natal Witness 28 Dec. 2The burglar dived through it (sc. the window) into the garden. The man tried to get up, then flopped forward and ‘lay dead still’.
Completely motionless.
Chrome
Firefox
Internet Explorer
Safari