when no remaining cards can give you the best hand, you are said to be drawing dead. "I hit my straight on the river, but the big blind had flopped the nut flush, so I had been drawing dead the whole time."

You're drawing, but it's futile because there is not one card in the deck that will create a winning hand for you. If you have two pairs and hope to make a full house on the river, but your [..]

Drawing to a hand that will lose even if it is made. For example, if you're drawing to a straight, but your opponent already has a full house, you are drawing dead.

Drawing to a hand that can not possibly win.

Is when, no matter what the cards are in the board, a player has no chance of winning the hand.