deadline
n. countablen. the latest time or date by which you must finish something. If you miss it, there are usually consequences like a lower grade or a late fee.
n. the latest time or date by which a task must be completed or a requirement met. Often used in professional, academic, or administrative contexts to denote a fixed limit.
The deadline for the project is Friday at noon.
The editor extended the deadline by two days because the lead writer was sick.
Missing the final submission deadline resulted in an automatic disqualification, regardless of the high quality of the research presented in the draft.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, early usage refers to lines that do not move, such as one used in angling. Slightly later American usage refers to a boundary in a prison which prisoners must not cross. There is only indirect evidence that the sense of "due date" may be connected with this use of the term in prison camps during the American Civil War, when it referred to a physical line or boundary beyond which prisoners were shot. In 1904, in a report from the US Department of Commerce and Labor, the term is used for "minimum work goals" (and in contrast to bonus line): for example, as a typographer the line could be 18,000 ems per day; should one not cross this line, then that could have negative consequences. In 1917, the term is attested as a printing term for a guideline on the bed of a printing press beyond which text will not print. Three years later, the term is found in print in the sense of "time limit" in the closely connected publishing industry, indicating the time after which material would not make it into a newspaper or periodical.
Commonly used with verbs like 'meet', 'miss', 'set', or 'extend'.
I have a deadline until FridayI have a deadline on FridayA deadline is a specific point in time, so use 'on' or 'at'; 'until' describes a continuous duration leading up to that point.