dead summer time

[Cub Pilot]

Hi there,
please, what's meant by dead summer time in this sentence (Mark Twain, 'Life On The Mississippi', Frescoes From The Past)?

They have found a fragment of a lumber raft (it is high water and dead summer time), and are floating down the river by night, and hiding in the willows by day, - bound for Cairo,- whence the negro will seek freedom in the heart of the free States.

I much appreciate your help. Thanks in advance

 

[The Newt]

It probably means something like "the very peak of summer." "Dead" is sometimes used to mean "exactly," as in "dead even."

Also compare to "in the dead of winter."

 

[owlman5]

It should mean something like the middle of summer. There isn't any trace of spring or fall in the air.

Cross-posted.

 

[Myridon]

dead - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

16 absolutely; completely; very much: dead tired.

I'm not sure I've ever heard "dead summer" before. "Dead certain" is another example.

 

[kentix]

Keep in mind the book was published in 1883. Language evolves.

 

[ain'ttranslationfun?]

"high/low water" is a daily phenomenon: "dead summertime" refers (I think) to the (middle of) the season,
when everything is slowed down by intense heat.