dead letter
         n 1: the state of something that has outlived its relevance
               [syn: {dead letter}, {non-issue}]
         2: mail that can neither be delivered nor returned [syn: {dead
            letter}, {dead mail}]

English Dictionary: detailed	by the DICT Development Group
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
dead load n a constant load on a structure (e.g. a bridge) due to the weight of the supported structure itself
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
detailed adj developed or executed with care and in minute detail; "a detailed plan"; "the elaborate register of the inhabitants prevented tax evasion"- John Buchan; "the carefully elaborated theme" Synonym(s): detailed, elaborate, elaborated
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
diethyl ether n a colorless volatile highly inflammable liquid formerly used as an inhalation anesthetic Synonym(s): ether, ethoxyethane, divinyl ether, vinyl ether, diethyl ether, ethyl ether
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
d8H93tel-de-ville \[d8]H[93]tel`-de-ville"\, n. [F.]       A city hall or townhouse.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
d8H93tel-Dieu \[d8]H[93]tel`-Dieu"\, n. [F.]       A hospital.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Dadle \Dad"le\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Daddled}, p. pr. & vb. n.       {Daddling}.] [Prob. freq. of dade.]       To toddle; to walk unsteadily, like a child or an old man;       hence, to do anything slowly or feebly.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Datolite \Dat"o*lite\, n. [From. Gr. [?] to divide + -lite; in       allusion to the granular structure of a massive variety.]       (Min.)       A borosilicate of lime commonly occuring in glassy,, greenish       crystals. [Written also {datholite}.]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Datolite \Dat"o*lite\, n. [From. Gr. [?] to divide + -lite; in       allusion to the granular structure of a massive variety.]       (Min.)       A borosilicate of lime commonly occuring in glassy,, greenish       crystals. [Written also {datholite}.]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Dawdle \Daw"dle\ (d[add]"d'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Dawdled}; p.       pr. & vb. n. {Dawdling}.] [Cf. {Daddle}.]       To waste time in trifling employment; to trifle; to saunter.                   Come some evening and dawdle over a dish of tea with                me.                                                         --Johnson.                   We . . . dawdle up and down Pall Mall.   --Thackeray.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Letter \Let"ter\, n. [OE. lettre, F. lettre, OF. letre, fr. L.       littera, litera, a letter; pl., an epistle, a writing,       literature, fr. linere, litum, to besmear, to spread or rub       over; because one of the earliest modes of writing was by       graving the characters upon tablets smeared over or covered       with wax. --Pliny, xiii. 11. See {Liniment}, and cf.       {Literal}.]       1. A mark or character used as the representative of a sound,             or of an articulation of the human organs of speech; a             first element of written language.                         And a superscription also was written over him in                      letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew. --Luke                                                                               xxiii. 38.          2. A written or printed communication; a message expressed in             intelligible characters on something adapted to             conveyance, as paper, parchment, etc.; an epistle.                         The style of letters ought to be free, easy, and                      natural.                                             --Walsh.          3. A writing; an inscription. [Obs.]                         None could expound what this letter meant.                                                                               --Chaucer.          4. Verbal expression; literal statement or meaning; exact             signification or requirement.                         We must observe the letter of the law, without doing                      violence to the reason of the law and the intention                      of the lawgiver.                                 --Jer. Taylor.                         I broke the letter of it to keep the sense.                                                                               --Tennyson.          5. (Print.) A single type; type, collectively; a style of             type.                         Under these buildings . . . was the king's printing                      house, and that famous letter so much esteemed.                                                                               --Evelyn.          6. pl. Learning; erudition; as, a man of letters.          7. pl. A letter; an epistle. [Obs.] --Chaucer.          {Dead letter}, {Drop letter}, etc. See under {Dead}, {Drop},             etc.          {Letter book}, a book in which copies of letters are kept.          {Letter box}, a box for the reception of letters to be mailed             or delivered.          {Letter carrier}, a person who carries letters; a postman;             specif., an officer of the post office who carries letters             to the persons to whom they are addressed, and collects             letters to be mailed.          {Letter cutter}, one who engraves letters or letter punches.                      {Letter lock}, a lock that can not be opened when fastened,             unless certain movable lettered rings or disks forming a             part of it are in such a position (indicated by a             particular combination of the letters) as to permit the             bolt to be withdrawn.                         A strange lock that opens with AMEN.   --Beau. & Fl.          {Letter paper}, paper for writing letters on; especially, a             size of paper intermediate between note paper and             foolscap. See {Paper}.          {Letter punch}, a steel punch with a letter engraved on the             end, used in making the matrices for type.          {Letters of administration} (Law), the instrument by which an             administrator or administratrix is authorized to             administer the goods and estate of a deceased person.          {Letter of attorney}, {Letter of credit}, etc. See under             {Attorney}, {Credit}, etc.          {Letter of license}, a paper by which creditors extend a             debtor's time for paying his debts.          {Letters close [or] clause} (Eng. Law.), letters or writs             directed to particular persons for particular purposes,             and hence closed or sealed on the outside; --             distinguished from letters patent. --Burrill.          {Letters of orders} (Eccl.), a document duly signed and             sealed, by which a bishop makes it known that he has             regularly ordained a certain person as priest, deacon,             etc.          {Letters patent}, {overt}, [or] {open} (Eng. Law), a writing             executed and sealed, by which power and authority are             granted to a person to do some act, or enjoy some right;             as, letters patent under the seal of England.          {Letter-sheet envelope}, a stamped sheet of letter paper             issued by the government, prepared to be folded and sealed             for transmission by mail without an envelope.          {Letters testamentary} (Law), an instrument granted by the             proper officer to an executor after probate of a will,             authorizing him to act as executor.          {Letter writer}.             (a) One who writes letters.             (b) A machine for copying letters.             (c) A book giving directions and forms for the writing of                   letters.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
{Dead letter}.             (a) A letter which, after lying for a certain fixed time                   uncalled for at the post office to which it was                   directed, is then sent to the general post office to                   be opened.             (b) That which has lost its force or authority; as, the                   law has become a dead letter.          {Dead-letter office}, a department of the general post office             where dead letters are examined and disposed of.          {Dead level}, a term applied to a flat country.          {Dead lift}, a direct lift, without assistance from             mechanical advantage, as from levers, pulleys, etc.;             hence, an extreme emergency. [bd](As we say) at a dead             lift.[b8] --Robynson (More's Utopia).          {Dead line} (Mil.), a line drawn within or around a military             prison, to cross which involves for a prisoner the penalty             of being instantly shot.          {Dead load} (Civil Engin.), a constant, motionless load, as             the weight of a structure, in distinction from a moving             load, as a train of cars, or a variable pressure, as of             wind.          {Dead march} (Mus.), a piece of solemn music intended to be             played as an accompaniment to a funeral procession.          {Dead nettle} (Bot.), a harmless plant with leaves like a             nettle ({Lamium album}).          {Dead oil} (Chem.), the heavy oil obtained in the             distillation of coal tar, and containing phenol,             naphthalus, etc.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
{Dead letter}.             (a) A letter which, after lying for a certain fixed time                   uncalled for at the post office to which it was                   directed, is then sent to the general post office to                   be opened.             (b) That which has lost its force or authority; as, the                   law has become a dead letter.          {Dead-letter office}, a department of the general post office             where dead letters are examined and disposed of.          {Dead level}, a term applied to a flat country.          {Dead lift}, a direct lift, without assistance from             mechanical advantage, as from levers, pulleys, etc.;             hence, an extreme emergency. [bd](As we say) at a dead             lift.[b8] --Robynson (More's Utopia).          {Dead line} (Mil.), a line drawn within or around a military             prison, to cross which involves for a prisoner the penalty             of being instantly shot.          {Dead load} (Civil Engin.), a constant, motionless load, as             the weight of a structure, in distinction from a moving             load, as a train of cars, or a variable pressure, as of             wind.          {Dead march} (Mus.), a piece of solemn music intended to be             played as an accompaniment to a funeral procession.          {Dead nettle} (Bot.), a harmless plant with leaves like a             nettle ({Lamium album}).          {Dead oil} (Chem.), the heavy oil obtained in the             distillation of coal tar, and containing phenol,             naphthalus, etc.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Deadlatch \Dead"latch`\, n.       A kind of latch whose bolt may be so locked by a detent that       it can not be opened from the inside by the handle, or from       the outside by the latch key. --Knight.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
{Dead letter}.             (a) A letter which, after lying for a certain fixed time                   uncalled for at the post office to which it was                   directed, is then sent to the general post office to                   be opened.             (b) That which has lost its force or authority; as, the                   law has become a dead letter.          {Dead-letter office}, a department of the general post office             where dead letters are examined and disposed of.          {Dead level}, a term applied to a flat country.          {Dead lift}, a direct lift, without assistance from             mechanical advantage, as from levers, pulleys, etc.;             hence, an extreme emergency. [bd](As we say) at a dead             lift.[b8] --Robynson (More's Utopia).          {Dead line} (Mil.), a line drawn within or around a military             prison, to cross which involves for a prisoner the penalty             of being instantly shot.          {Dead load} (Civil Engin.), a constant, motionless load, as             the weight of a structure, in distinction from a moving             load, as a train of cars, or a variable pressure, as of             wind.          {Dead march} (Mus.), a piece of solemn music intended to be             played as an accompaniment to a funeral procession.          {Dead nettle} (Bot.), a harmless plant with leaves like a             nettle ({Lamium album}).          {Dead oil} (Chem.), the heavy oil obtained in the             distillation of coal tar, and containing phenol,             naphthalus, etc.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Deadlihood \Dead"li*hood\, n.       State of the dead. [Obs.]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Detail \De"tail\ (d[emac]"t[amac]l or d[esl]*t[amac]l"; 277), n.       [F. d[82]tail, fr. d[82]tailler to cut in pieces, tell in       detail; pref. d[82]- (L. de or dis-) + tailler to cut. See       {Tailor}.]       1. A minute portion; one of the small parts; a particular; an             item; -- used chiefly in the plural; as, the details of a             scheme or transaction.                         The details of the campaign in Italy. --Motley.          2. A narrative which relates minute points; an account which             dwells on particulars.          3. (Mil.) The selection for a particular service of a person             or a body of men; hence, the person or the body of men so             selected.          {Detail drawing}, a drawing of the full size, or on a large             scale, of some part of a building, machine, etc.          {In detail}, in subdivisions; part by part; item;             circumstantially; with particularity.          Syn: Account; relation; narrative; recital; explanation;                narration.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Detail \De"tail\ (d[esl]*t[amac]l"), v. t. [imp. & p. p.       {Detailed} (-t[amac]ld"); p. pr. & vb. n. {Detailing}.] [Cf.       F. d[82]tailler to cut up in pieces, tell in detail. See       {Detail}, n.]       1. To relate in particulars; to particularize; to report             minutely and distinctly; to enumerate; to specify; as, he             detailed all the facts in due order.          2. (Mil.) To tell off or appoint for a particular service, as             an officer, a troop, or a squadron.          Syn: {Detail}, {Detach}.          Usage: Detail respect the act of individualizing the person                   or body that is separated; detach, the removing for                   the given end or object.