dead hand

noun

, Law.

dead hand

an oppressive or discouraging influence or factor
the dead hand of centralized control
law a less common word for mortmain

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Why should the dead hand of an Augustine or Calvin be exempt from giving its authority?

It drew sustainment from the dead hand in his grasp, and cowered down to the earth claiming all we touch.

The hand held a bit of paper, at which I blankly stared, thinking it held by a dead hand.

All one night a dead hand lay across my throat, but I could not disengage my hands to remove it.

Again she saw, through the blinding mist of her tears, Guy Kenmore extricating the fragment of paper from the dead hand.

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