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dead hand

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.76 sec.
dead hand
n.
1. The ever-present, oppressive influence of past events: "Psychotherapy explores the ways in which the past has shaped people, and how its dead hand continues to deform their lives" (James S. Gordon).
2. Mortmain.
[Middle English dede hond, translation of Old French mortemain or Medieval Latin manus mortua, mortmain.]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.dead hand - real property held inalienably (as by an ecclesiastical corporation)
mortmain
corp, corporation - a business firm whose articles of incorporation have been approved in some state
immovable, real estate, real property, realty - property consisting of houses and land
2.dead hand - the oppressive influence of past events or decisions
dead hand of the past, mortmain
influence - a power to affect persons or events especially power based on prestige etc; "used her parents' influence to get the job"


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
From the thong which held them stretched another to the dead hand of the little old woman; as I touched the cord the skeletons swung to the motion with a noise as of the rustling of dry leaves.
A Princess of Mars by Burroughs, Edgar Rice View in context
In chuckling over the vexations he could inflict by the rigid clutch of his dead hand, he inevitably mingled his consciousness with that livid stagnant presence, and so far as he was preoccupied with a future life, it was with one of gratification inside his coffin.
Middlemarch by Eliot, George View in context
She came, O King, because the dead hand of Baleka summoned her, as thou sawest.
Nada The Lily by Haggard, Rider H. View in context
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