Definition

Noun: - A person, plan, or thing that is doomed to fail or is no longer effective: The term "dead duck" describes something that is certain to fail, is useless, or has already failed. It often refers to ideas, projects, or proposals that have no chance of success or continuation.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The new policy was a dead duck from the start due to lack of public support.
  • After the scandal, his political career was a dead duck.
  • That outdated software is a dead duck; no one uses it anymore.

Advanced Usage

• "to be a dead duck": To be in a situation or state of certain failure or obsolescence.
  • Without funding, the research project is a dead duck.
• Used informally, often in business, politics, or casual conversation to dismiss something as hopeless.

Variants and Related Words

• Dead in the water (idiom): Similarly describes a plan or project that has failed and cannot progress.
  • After the key investor pulled out, the startup was dead in the water.
• Doomed (adj): Certain to fail or suffer death, destruction, or a terrible fate.
  • The venture was doomed from the outset.

Synonyms

• Failure: A lack of success.
• Lost cause: A person or thing that can no longer be helped or saved.
• Goner (informal): A person or thing that is doomed or beyond recovery.

Related Phrases

• "to be a sitting duck": To be in an exposed or vulnerable position, easy to attack. (Note: This is a different idiom focusing on vulnerability, not certain failure).
  • Without any defenses, the base was a sitting duck for enemy aircraft.

Related Idioms

• "dead as a dodo": Completely obsolete or extinct.
  • Floppy disks are now dead as a dodo.
• "dead on arrival (DOA)": Failing or ineffective immediately upon introduction.
  • The proposed bill was dead on arrival in the legislature.

Noun

1. something doomed to failure
   • he finally admitted that the legislation was a dead duck
   • the idea of another TV channel is now a dead duck
   • as theories go, that's a dead duck