deadlyadj/ˈdɛdli/

• 1

  obsoleterareSubject to death; mortal.

  • […]he ſuffred hym ſelfe to be made mortall and dedly, that innocent & gyltles in hym ſelfe: he myght be ſlayne & deye for the gylty man.
  • ❧ That when the iournay / of this dedly life / My ſely ghoſte / hath finiſhed and thence[…]
• 2

  Causing death; lethal.

  • 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.
  • […] 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 […]
• 3

  Aiming or willing to destroy; implacable; desperately hostile.

  • deadly enemies
  • […]diſmount thy tucke, be yare in thy preparation, for thy aſſaylant is quick, skilfull and deadly.
• 4

  Very accurate (of aiming with a bow, firearm, etc.).

  • 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.
  • For him the gibbet shall be built; For him the stake prepared: Him shall the scorn and wrath of men Pursue with deadly aim ; And malice, envy, spite and lies, Shall desecrate his name.
• 5

  informalVery boring.

  • “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,[…]!”
  • “Then my father died. He left me very badly off. I had to go and live with some old aunts in Yorkshire.” She shuddered. “You will understand me when I say that it was a deadly life for a girl brought up as I had been. The narrowness, the deadly monotony of it, almost drove me mad.”
• 6

  informalExcellent, awesome, cool.

deadlyadv/ˈdɛdli/

• 1

  obsoleteFatally, mortally.

  • [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[…]
• 2

  In a way which suggests death.

  • Her face suddenly became deadly white.
• 3

  Extremely, incredibly.

  • Though deadly weary, till ſpectators do / At once part and call them good boys too[…]
  • John had got an impreſſion that Lewis was ſo deadly cunning a man, that he was afraid to venture himſelf alone with him.