dead to rights
With sufficient evidence to establish responsibility definitivelyWith sufficient evidence to establish responsibility definitively.
Meaning
1 senses(US, idiomatic, not comparable)With sufficient evidence to establish responsibility definitively.
have someone dead to rights on something
Because of the video replay, the ref had him dead to rights on the penalty.
Origin
US, 1854, originally New York City criminal slang, thence entered general use. dead (“compUS, 1854, originally New York City criminal slang, thence entered general use. dead (“completely, utterly”) + to rights (“properly”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.