deadweight

Noun

dead weight (countable and uncountable, plural dead weights)

1. Unremitting heavy weight that does not move.
   • His dead weight, as he abruptly collapses, pulls his lapels from her hands, reminding her to step back, off-balancing whoever is behind her, […]2003, William Gibson, Pattern Recognition (Bigend cycle; book 1), New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, page 154
2. The largest weight of cargo a ship is able to carry; i.e., the weight of a ship when fully loaded minus its weight when empty.
3. A dead load.
4. (figuratively) That which is useless or excess; that which slows something down.
   • She wants to shed the dead weight of so many stacks of old clutter.
5. The total (unpowered) weight of a train to be propelled (or hauled) by the locomotive; another locomotive being hauled dead as part of the train is a dead weight.
   • Having dropped the coach, the trio returned with the Class 47 leading and the other two locomotives as dead weight.2023 November 29, “Network News: Test runs for WCR fleet returnees”, in RAIL, number 997, page 24

See all 6 meanings of dead weight