dead in the water

phrasal

1. : incapable of being effective : stalled

peace talks were dead in the water

2. : as good as dead : doomed

most books are dead in the water long before their publication date — Phillip Lopate

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dead in the water

1. (of a ship) without the power to move

2. Unable to make progress or succeed (figurative)

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Main Entry: ↑dead

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dead in the water phrase

completely unlikely to succeed

The peace process is now dead in the water.

Thesaurus: likely to fail_synonym

Main entry: dead

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(of a ship) unable to move

■ figurative unable to function effectively

the economy is dead in the water

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dead in the water

informal : not making any progress : not having any chance of success

The peace talks were dead in the water.

His election campaign is dead in the water.

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Main Entry: ↑dead

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dead in the water — see ↑dead, 1

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Main Entry: ↑water

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ˌdead in the ˈwater f26 idiom

a person or plan that is dead in the water has failed and has little hope of succeeding in the future

•

His leadership campaign is dead in the water.

Main entry: ↑dead_idiom