Illustration from 1908 Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary.
<b>Dead-eye</b>, <i>n.</i> (<i>naut.</i>), a round, flattish wooden block with a rope or iron band passing round it, and pierced with three holes for a lanyard.
Rev. Thomas Davidson 1856-1923 (<i>ed.</i>)
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language