dead in or an animal's tracks



dead in someone's or an animal's tracks

Fig. exactly where someone or something is at the moment; at this instant. (This does not usually have anything to do with death. The phrase is often used with stop.) Her unkind words stopped me dead in my tracks. When I heard the rattlesnake, I stopped dead in my tracks.
See also: dead, track

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Uaithne-Irish
Tolly-English (Archaic)
SzilviaSEEL-vee-awHungarian
Kreszenz-German
Coleman['kəulmən]
Philipa-English (Rare)