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Definition of Dead letter
1. Noun. The state of something that has outlived its relevance.
2. Noun. Mail that can neither be delivered nor returned.
Definition of Dead letter
1. Noun. An item of mail that cannot be delivered to its intended recipient; after some time it is returned to the sender, or destroyed ¹
2. Noun. (context: by extension) A law that is no longer enforced ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of Dead Letter
Literary usage of Dead letter
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review by William B. Dana (1860)
"The attraction was the great " Dead-letter Office Sale," advertised for some
weeks to take place on this night. It was announced that the catalogue ..."
2. The Works of Alexander Hamilton: Containing His Correspondence, and His by Alexander Hamilton (1851)
"... remain a dead letter? Vigor in the executive is at least as necessary as in
the legislative branch; if the President requires to be stimulated those who ..."
3. American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge edited by Jared Sparks, Johann Schobert, Francis Bowen, George Partridge Sanger (1848)
"Dead-Letter Office* The number of dead letters returned quarterly is estimated at
... One compares the letters with the dead-letter bills returned by the ..."
4. The Works of Charles Sumner by Charles Sumner (1874)
"THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT MUST BE A dead letter. LETTER TO A PUBLIC MEETING AT
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 9, 1860. THIS meeting was one of a series, ..."
5. Ten Years in Washington: Or, Inside Life and Scenes in Our National Capital by Mary Clemmer (1882)
"... Office at Washington—Saved from the British Troops—Franklin's Old Ledger—The
Present Number of Post Offices— The dead letter Office—The Ladies Too Much ..."
6. The History of the Popes, from the Close of the Middle Ages: Drawn from the by Ludwig Pastor, Ralph Francis Kerr, Frederick Ignatius Antrobus (1908)
"But of what avail were all these laws if they were allowed to remain a dead letter?
In this respect, unfortunately, the omissions were many. ..."
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