what are dead words? like in writing?!?

Question

i wrote an essay and i have to highlight all my dead words. but i dunno what they are.....
help..
is it stuff like to, an, it, i

Answer 1

Dead words are words that do not contribute to the main idea
of the essay. All they do is take up space on the page.
Example: The flower pushed it's way up from the earth,
inching toward the warmth of the sun. This seed was planted
14 days ago in an old, overgrown flower bed behind a run
down apartment complex. This type of flower originally came
from Holland in the 1600's. It was..... the dead words would
be the overgrown flower bed and the apartment complex.
Neither of these have anything to do with the subject which is
the origin of the flower and it's history.