Definition of "deadly"
deadly
adjective
comparative deadlier or more deadly, superlative deadliest or most deadly
Quotations
But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶ […] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window […], and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.
1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […]
[…] others search for new and deadlier gases, or for soluble poisons capable of being produced in such quantities as to destroy the vegetation of whole continents […]
1949 June 8, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 9, in Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, London: Secker & Warburg; republished [Australia]: Project Gutenberg of Australia, August 2001, part 2, page 177
Aiming or willing to destroy; implacable; desperately hostile.
Quotations
[…] diſmount thy tucke, be yare in thy preparation, for thy aſſaylant is quick, skilfull and deadly.
c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene iv], page 269, column 1
Very accurate (of aiming with a bow, firearm, etc.).
Quotations
Its deadly aim at vast distances, which condition of the mechanical power brought has made it the dread of the sepoys, who term it "the gun that kills without making any sound," contrasts strangely with the performances of Brown Bess of old, which at any range beyond a hundred yards was so uncertain in its aim that it has been calculated that the soldier shot away the weight in lead of every man that he hit.
1858, “Woolwich Arsenal”, in The Living Age, volume 57, page 201
Possibly some have thought that we were going to make war on some favorite doctrine or political dogma; that we had set brethren to whetting their sword, and drawing their bow for deadly aim at precious truth; as the wicked Haman had secured a decree that all the Jews should be killed.
1888, Annual Session of the Baptist Congress for the Discussion of Current Questions, page 188
There is a wealth of common sense and humanity in that, and perhaps the most unexpected element in the idea of the Seven Deadly Sins is that, although it points with deadly accuracy to our capacity for evil, it also leaves us with a vivid and strong sense of what it means to be human.
2015, Henry Fairlie, The Seven Deadly Sins Today
Quotations
“I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital, […]!”
1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VI, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company
Students, of course, know the difference between a deadly lecture and a stimulating one. An excellent lecturer who maintains a high level of interaction with the audience stimulates thinking and learning.
2009, Gay Lumsden, Donald Lumsden, Carolyn Wiethoff, Communicating in Groups and Teams: Sharing Leadership, page 324
adverb
comparative more deadly, superlative most deadly
Quotations
[P]erceiving himſelfe deadly wounded by a ſhot received in his body, being by his men perſwaded to come off and retire himſelfe from out the throng, anſwered, he would not now ſo neere his end, beginne to turne his face from his enemie […]
1603, Michel de Montaigne, “Our affections are tranſported beyond our ſelues”, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], page 7
Quotations