In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the idiom/phrase.
dead ringer
- Aa competition whose outcome is already decided (by unfair means)
- Ba candidate fraudulently substituted for another in a competition
- Ca person who was in a situation to warn others is now missing
- Da warning which comes too late, after the damage is done
Solution & Step-by-step Explanation
The idiom "dead ringer" historically originates from horse racing, where a fast horse was fraudulently substituted for a slower one under a false name to rig a race. In modern usage, it commonly means an exact duplicate or lookalike, but in the context of competition and testing conventions, option B precisely describes its literal/historical definition: "a candidate fraudulently substituted for another in a competition".