Question: what does this phrase mean as dead as a doornail?
Answer: Dead as a doornail is a phrase which means not alive, unequivocally deceased. The term goes back to the 1300s, the phrase dead as a doornail is found in poems of the time. ... It is thought that the phrase dead as a doornail comes from the manner of securing doornails that were hammered into a door by clenching them.