Dead To Rights - Wiktionary

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• 1 English Toggle English subsection
  • 1.1 Etymology
  • 1.2 Pronunciation
  • 1.3 Adverb
    • 1.3.1 See also
  • 1.4 References

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English

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Etymology

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US, 1854, originally New York City criminal slang,[1] thence entered general use. dead (“completely, utterly”) + to rights (“properly”).

Pronunciation

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• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adverb

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dead to rights (not comparable)

1. (US, idiomatic) With sufficient evidence to establish responsibility definitively. Synonyms: bang to rights, red-handed; see also Thesaurus:guiltily have someone dead to rights on something Because of the video replay, the ref had him dead to rights on the penalty.

See also

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• guilty as charged

References

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1. ^ 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.”

• Origin of the expression “Dead to rights”?

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