deadlift

1. (weightlifting) A weight training exercise where one lifts a loaded barbell off the ground from a stabilized bent-over position.Examples: "2008, Lou Schuler, "Foreward", in Nate Green, Built for Show, page xii I never did a squat or a deadlift—the exercises I now know are best for building a bigger, stronger, more athletic-looking body—because I had access to leg-extension, leg-curl, and leg-press machines."

2. (figurative, by extension) An effort made under discouraging conditions.broadlyfiguratively