The police caught the thief dead to rights.
dead to rights
idiomWith sufficient evidence to establish responsibility definitively.
Origin
first recorded 19th c.US, 1854, originally New York City criminal slang, thence entered general use. dead (“completely, utterly”) + to rights (“properly”).
The security camera caught the employee stealing supplies, so the manager had him dead to rights.
Once the investigators discovered the hidden documents, they had the corrupt official dead to rights and prepared to file formal charges.
- 01
all rights reserved
The copyright holder of a creative work reserves all copyright-related rights, typically including the right to publish the work, to make derivative works of it, to distribute it, to make profit from it, to license a number of these rights to other people, and to forbid these uses by any unauthorized people, thus being entitled to take legal action against infringement.
- 02
bang to rights
Red-handed, (caught) in the act.
- 03
beat a dead horse
To persist or continue far beyond any purpose, interest or reason.
- 04
bragging rights
The prerogative to praise oneself for a skill or accomplishment.
- 05
brown bread
[Cockney slang]dead
- 06
come back from the dead
To experience a resurgence after one's productive years are assumed to have ended.
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dead 'n' buried
Contraction of dead and buried.
- 08
dead air
An unintended interruption in a broadcast during which nothing is transmitted: a silent period on radio or a silent period with no picture on television.