- dead letter
- A law which is not enforced; an undelivered letter which has been sent to the dead letter office by the post office department to be destroyed.
Ballentine's law dictionary. Anderson, W.S.. 1998.
dead letter
Look at other dictionaries:
dead letter — {n. phr.} An undeliverable letter that ends up in a special office holding such letters. * /There is a dead letter office in most major cities./ … Dictionary of American idioms
dead letter — {n. phr.} An undeliverable letter that ends up in a special office holding such letters. * /There is a dead letter office in most major cities./ … Dictionary of American idioms
Dead letter — Letter Let ter, n. [OE. lettre, F. lettre, OF. letre, fr. L. littera, litera, a letter; pl., an epistle, a writing, literature, fr. linere, litum, to besmear, to spread or rub over; because one of the earliest modes of writing was by graving the… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
dead letter — in general use, is properly a rule or regulation that is no longer observed; for example, capital punishment is a dead letter when it remains on the statute book although it is not used. The term should not be applied to aspects of life that have … Modern English usage
dead letter — dead letters N COUNT If you say that a law or agreement is a dead letter, you mean that it still exists but people ignore it. No one does anything about it and the law becomes a dead letter … English dictionary
dead letter — dead letter, adj. 1. a law, ordinance, etc., that has lost its force but has not been formally repealed or abolished. 2. a letter that cannot reach the addressee or be returned to the sender, usually because of incorrect address, and that is sent … Universalium
dead letter — n 1.) a law, idea etc that still exists but that people no longer obey 2.) a letter that cannot be delivered or returned … Dictionary of contemporary English
dead letter — noun count 1. ) a letter that can neither be delivered nor returned to anyone, because the addresses are missing or not complete 2. ) a law, agreement, or tradition that people no longer pay any attention to … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
dead letter — ► NOUN 1) a law or treaty which has not been repealed but is defunct in practice. 2) a letter that has not been delivered or claimed … English terms dictionary
dead letter — n. 1. a law, practice, etc. no longer enforced or operative but not formally done away with 2. a letter that cannot be delivered or returned, as because of incorrect address and lack of return address … English World dictionary
Dead letter — (engl., spr. dedd, »toter Brief«), ein wegen ungenügender Adresse oder aus andern Gründen unbestellbarer Brief, »Rückbrief« … Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon
