dead to rights
English
editEtymology
editUS, 1854, originally New York City criminal slang,[1] thence entered general use. dead (“completely, utterly”) + to rights (“properly”).
Pronunciation
editAudio (General Australian): (file)
Adverb
editdead to rights (not comparable)
- (US, idiomatic) With sufficient evidence to establish responsibility definitively.
- Because of the video replay, the ref had him dead to rights on the penalty.
- have someone dead to rights on something
Synonyms
editSee also
editReferences
edit- ^ Vocabulum: Or, The Rogue's Lexicon. Comp. from the Most Authentic Sources, George Washington Matsell (1859), p. 25: “DEAD TO RIGHTS. Positively guilty, and no way of getting clear.”