Definition
A dead hand is one that can no longer legally win, usually because of an exposure that matches no card line, an exposure on a concealed hand, or the wrong number of tiles.
A dead hand keeps drawing and discarding but cannot declare mahjong, and in most groups still pays the winner.
Read the full guide: Dead Hands and Wrong Mahjong Calls: What Happens Next.
See it on real tiles: the coach reads any hand and names its direction, free, at the free read. Members get the coach on call for their own games.
More terms: Pung, Kong, Quint, Pair, Charleston, Blind pass, Courtesy pass, Joker.