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dead man

dead man
 n.— «Another event at the camp out was the technique for setting up a tent. Instead of conventional stakes for sticking the tent down, in snow another method called a “dead man” is used. The method requires several fairly strong, short and slightly thick pieces of wood. The scouts dug a hole inside the packed snow, placed the sticks inside, tying the ropes of the tent to them and then buried them in more packed snow. The ropes holding the tent down were buried deep in the snow without them coming out, which prevented the tent from blowing away.» —“Trailblazers: Troop 2 gets a taste of snow camping” by Esequiel Cottrell Chico Enterprise-Record (California) Mar. 25, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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