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)
Further reading
What kind of book do people ask for most often in prison? Romance novels? No. The Bible? No. The most requested books by far are … dictionaries! A number of volunteer organizations gather and distribute used dictionaries to help inmates with...
David from Plymouth, Wisconsin, wonders about the expression a cord of wood. The phrase goes back to the 17th century and has to do with using a cord to measure a specific quantity of stacked wood. This is part of a complete episode.
Related
This is a standard camping and engineering term and not a new one, either. I learned it from a 1950s Boy Scout handbook. For a def and illustration served by the Federal Highway Administration, http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/fspubs/01232833/glossary.htm#d