dead on arrival
The term "dead on arrival" is commonly used in medical contexts and has been adopted in slang and business to describe failure or defectiveness from the start.
🇺🇸 US Voice:
🇬🇧 UK Voice:
Definition
C1Medical
(formal, professional)A patient who is already deceased upon arriving at a hospital or medical facility.
Example
- The paramedics declared the victim dead on arrival.
B2Business
(formal, informal)A plan, idea, or product that fails or is deemed unviable from the outset.
Example
- The new software was dead on arrival due to numerous bugs.
B2Slang
(informal)A new item received in a broken or defective state.
Example
- The laptop I ordered was dead on arrival, so I had to return it immediately.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "dead on arrival":
dead in the waterdead ondead as a dododead or alivedead duckdeader than discodead meatdie on the vinedead donkey