English

Adjective

deadeye ‎(not comparable)

1. Very accurate in shooting or throwing.
   • 1961 November 2, Jerry Green, “Gross Dwarfed, But Not in Ability”, in The Milwaukee Sentinel:

     Gross, only a 20-year-old junior, is a deadeye passer, a poised runner and a quick-thinking field general.

   • 1999 November 15, Alan Shipnuck, “10 Ucla”, in Sports Illustrated:

     Help in that department should come from highly touted freshman Jason Kapono, a 6'7" deadeye shooter who made 211 threes in high school.

   • 2008, Gerald Vizenor, Father Meme, University of New Mexico Press, ISBN 978-0-8623-4515-8, page 94:

     The old man was a natural sniper, a deadeye shooter even as a boy, and he served with my great uncle in the First World War.

2. (concerning a stare) Cold; unfriendly.
   • 2004 July 28, Emma Field, “Sons and Daughters / The Archie Bronson Outfit, ICA, London”, in The Independent:

     The deadeye stare of the bassist was enough to make any normal person run.

   • 2007 September 10, Manohla Dargis, “The real Jodie Foster, 100 percent professional”, in New York Times:

     Outlandish in its violence and its conceit, "The Brave One" would be an interesting addendum to Foster's career even without its biographical frisson, without the image of Erica holding a gun with a deadeye stare […]

Derived terms

• Deadeye Dick

Noun

deadeye ‎(plural deadeyes)

1. (nautical) A wooden disk having holes through which the lanyard is passed, used for tightening shrouds.
2. A very accurate marksman.
   • 1989, Tobias Wolff, This Boy's Life: A Memoir:

     He taught both my mother and me to shoot, taught my mother so well that she became a better shot than he was--a real deadeye.

3. (uncommon) A penchant for noticing a particular thing, or a person who has such a penchant.
   • 1990, Ron Chernow, The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance:

     He examined the cash balance daily, boasted he could pay off all debts in two hours, had a deadeye for fake figures in scanning a ledger, and personally audited the books each New Year's Day.

   • 1999, Ann Rowe Seaman, Swaggart: The Unathorized Biography of an American Evangelist:

     Thirty-four years later, she was a tough CEO who went after Jimmy's detractors with a deadeye for the jugular.

   • 2002, Lilly Paige White, Manny Lesko: The Erotic History of Estelle Antoinette Francine Chevalier, iUniverse, ISBN 978-0595223923, page 42:

     Manny's memory had always been an arch-phenomenon of mimcry ^[sic]; he was a deadeye for all the destructive details.