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   dead weight

   /dɛdˈweɪt/

   noun

   • 1. the weight of an inert person or thing: "he had to struggle while carrying forty-five pounds of deadweight on his back"
   • ▪ a heavy or oppressive burden: "she'd drag my father's dead weight from wherever he'd fallen"
   • ▪ the total weight of cargo, stores, etc. which a ship carries or can carry: "this will produce a maximum dead weight of 72,350 tons"
   • ▪ another term for dead load
   • ▪ animals sold by the estimated weight of saleable meat that they will yield.
   • ▪ losses incurred because of the inefficient allocation of resources, especially through taxation or restriction: "a dead-weight burden"
   • ▪ a debt not covered by assets.

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