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dead heat

dead heat

19 6.7
A race result when two or more people finish exactly together
  • noun
  • /dɛd hiːt/
translation icon : empate
  • Last January, polls showed Obama and Romney in a statistical dead heat within a point or two of each other.
  • dead heat race
  • dead heat in polls
  • a virtual dead heat

There is a dead heat race to get to Mama first.

Examples

  • Our top story tonight, just-released polls have incumbent Mayor Don Mitchell, Jr. and 28-year-old grassroots challenger Bella Real in a dead heat.

  • With just five days before the election, polls show the race is a dead heat.

    Blog text (34)
  • With every state but New Mexico reporting... we're now in a dead heat for the American presidency.

  • Now, he and Vice President Lewis are in a statistical dead heat.

  • The national polls show a dead heat, and that is unlikely to change, even after Monday night's debate.

    Blog text (29)
  • The latest polls show a dead heat, with Romney gaining a slight edge.

    Blog text (1)
  • Heather Irmiger, of Boulder, CO, and Mackenzie Woodring, of Belmont, MI, finished in a dead heat for third place.

    Blog text (17)
  • The latest polls show a dead heat in the governor's race, with both candidates receiving equal support.

  • After a tense race, the competition ended in a dead heat, leaving both teams wondering who would take the victory.

  • In the final moments of the race, it became clear that the leading runners were in a dead heat, unable to determine a winner.

Synonyms

tie
vsdead heat
170 2.0

A situation in a game where two players or teams have the same score

is about simultaneous finishes in races rather than general score equality
draw
vsdead heat
91 2.4

A game or contest that ends with an equal score

is used for tied games whereas the key is about simultaneous race finishes

Antonyms

1.0

A win against an opponent or a difficult problem

How Close

dead heat
19 6.7
neck and neck
28 3.5
close
1.0

Surface Forms

dead heat singular
dead heats plural

Morphology

dead + heat

The compound meaning is directly derivable from 'dead' (completely/exactly) + 'heat' (a race): a race that is exactly even. This compositional pattern (cf. 'dead even') is common and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent senses.

Etymology

The idiom dead heat comes from old horse racing: a heat was a 'race' and dead was used to mean perfectly even. If two horses crossed the line side by side, judges called it a dead heat, so today the phrase means 'a tie' in a race or competition.