deed

Pluraldeeds

Formsdeeds, deeding, deeded

1. 1
   nouncountable

   Something that someone carries out or performs; an act or action.

   A single thoughtless deed can undo years of trust.

   Her quiet deeds of charity often go unnoticed.

   Similaract, action

   Note

   The oldest sense and the root of the rest: Old English dēd, built on the same Germanic base as do, so a deed is literally "a doing." The Indo-European word behind it also reached English by a different road as thesis, its unlikely doublet. Something of a biblical ring clings to it; the King James Bible of 1611 has Joseph ask, "What deed is this which ye have done?"

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A bold or remarkable action; a feat or great accomplishment.

   The knight's daring deed became the subject of many songs.

   History remembers her bold deeds on the battlefield.

   Similarfeat, exploit, achievement, accomplishment

   Note

   Heroic poetry is at home with this sense. In Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1596) knights set out to accomplish "a knightly deed," and John Dryden's Annus Mirabilis (1667) praises men "whose deeds some nobler poem shall adorn." It keeps that epic, literary color today. An adjective such as knightly, daring or heroic often does the work of marking the deed as great, and the plural deeds suits a whole career of exploits.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A formal legal document, executed under seal or before a witness, often required for transactions such as transferring property.

   The deed was executed under seal at the lawyer's office.

   Both parties signed the deeds transferring the land.

   Note

   In law a deed is defined by how it is made, not by what it says. Execution under seal or before a witness turns a written agreement into one, and that formality is why the law requires a deed for weightier business, such as transferring certain kinds of property, where an ordinary contract is not enough. Lawyers speak of a deed being executed, not merely signed.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   The legal title to real estate, proving ownership of land or buildings.

   After the mortgage was paid, the deed passed fully to her.

   Disputes over old deeds can delay a property sale for months.

   Similartitle

   Note

   The document has come to stand for what it proves: to hold the deed to a house is to own it. The usual construction is the deed to plus the property, as in the deed to the house or the deed to the farm. Strictly, the legal instrument is what conveys title. Real-estate talk broadens the word so that it names the ownership itself.

5. 5
   noununcountable

   Action or actual fact, as contrasted with mere talk or deliberation.

   The committee valued action in deed over endless debate.

   Her courage was shown in deed rather than in fine speeches.

   Similaraction

   Oppositeword, talk

   Note

   Set against word, deed stands uncounted, with no article and no plural, as in the pledge to act "in word and in deed." The contrast is the whole point, so the sense rarely appears without its partner. Written as two words, in deed means "in action." Do not confuse it with indeed, the everyday adverb meaning "truly"; the two-word form always answers an implied "in word."

6. 6
   verbcolloquialtransitive

   To transfer ownership of real property to someone by means of a deed.

   She chose to deed the farmhouse to her son before retiring.

   The owners deeded the property to a conservation trust.

   Similartransfer, convey

   Note

   The document turned into a verb: to deed something is to sign it away by means of the formal instrument. It often takes over and to, as in deeded over the mineral rights to some buyers, and it can carry land or narrower rights. The verb is informal. In a contract or legal pleading, convey or transfer is the safer choice.

7. 7
   nounslang

   A coy euphemism for the act of having sex, almost always used as "the deed."

   By the third date, the two of them had done the deed.

   He bragged to his friends about doing the deed.

   Note

   A slang euphemism that works through vagueness. The definite article carries the meaning, so the phrase is nearly always do the deed or did the deed, never a deed. It is jocular rather than crude, comfortable among friends but too coy for clinical or formal writing. Because the deed could name any act, the context alone tells listeners what is meant.

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