Meaning of Dead Hand | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A residual undesirable influence from the past.
   countable, uncountable
2. A weapons system, implemented by the Soviet Union and by the Russian Federation as the successor state thereof, capable of closing a strategic nuclear strike control loop in the absence of normal command and control channels, analogous in concept to a dead man's switch, in anticipation of a decapitation strike.
3. A hand that is dealt but not used during a card game.
   countable, uncountable
4. Any such system, whether the cardinal instance (the Soviet/Russian one) or another.
5. A penalty where a player continues to take their turns, but can no longer win or make tile calls for the remainder of the hand.
   countable, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“I'll leave⟳ the very bad news to the end⟳ as it's outside the industry's control⟳. Yes, the dead hand of the Department for Transport⟳ (DfT) still rules!”

“Near-synonyms: doomsday weapon, doomsday device, doomsday bomb”

“Sometimes people glibly speak⟳ as if the Dead Hand were a thing of the past, but it is foolhardy to assume⟳ so.”

“The system may no longer be a central element of Russian strategy—US-based Russian arms expert Pavel Podvig calls it now "just another cog in the machine"—but Dead Hand is still armed.”

“The talk⟳ then turned darkly to the prospects for building a Dead Hand of their own⟳.”

CEFR level