dead drunk, ˈdead-ˈdrunk, a.
[dead adv. 1: cf. dead-sick in dead D. 2.]
So drunk as to be insensible or unable to move, in a state of prostration through intoxication. Hence dead-ˈdrunkenness.
| 1599 H. Buttes Dyets Dry D. P vij, They..receive..the smoak through a Cane, till they fall doune Dead-drunke. 1604 Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 85. 1667 Dryden Wild Gallant v. ii. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 5 ¶1 Cupid is not only Blind at present, but Dead-drunk. 1840 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 124 My penitent was lying on the floor, dead-drunk. 1837 Hawthorne Twice Told T., David Swan, An awful instance of dead drunkenness. |