1
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Phrase(s): dead letter
1. a piece of mail that is returned to the post office as both undeliverable and unreturnable. • At the end of the year, the post office usually has bushels of dead letters. • Some of the dead letters are opened to see if there is an address inside. 2. an issue, law, or matter that is no longer important or that no longer has force or power. • His point about the need for education reform is a dead letter. It is being done now. • This point of law is a dead letter since the last Supreme Court ruling on this matter.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
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1. An unclaimed or undelivered letter that is eventually destroyed or returned to the sender. For example, She moved without leaving a forwarding address, so her mail ended up in the dead letter office. [c. 1700] 2. A statute or directive that is still valid but in practice is not enforced. For example, The blue laws here are a dead letter; all the stores open on Sundays and holidays. [Second half of 1600s]
American Heritage Idioms