- deadbeat⇄adj. 1. making successive beats with intervals of rest and no recoil, as the mechanism of a watch.
2. (Physics.) stopping with little or no oscillation, as the needle of certain compasses; free from oscillation. - deadbeat⇄deadbeat, adjective, noun.
- deadbeat⇄noun (Slang.) a dead beat.
Ex. a sort of transit camp for artist bums and odd deadbeats (Punch).