deadline
n. · v.-
1 time limit (n.) B1 Intermediatea specific date or time by which you must finish something.
a date or time before which a task must be completed or a goal must be reached.
ExampleThe deadline for the project is Monday morning, so we need to work quickly.
ExampleThe editorial team struggled to meet the strict deadline, as several key contributors submitted their drafts much later than originally agreed.
Usageoften used with the verbs 'meet', 'miss', or 'set'
- time limit
- cutoff
- target date
PitfallI have a deadline for Friday.I have a deadline on Friday.Use 'on' for the day the deadline occurs, or 'of' to specify the deadline itself.
-
2 prison boundary (n.) C2 Proficiency Archaica line around a prison that prisoners were not allowed to cross.
a physical boundary around a prison camp, crossing which would result in a prisoner being shot.
ExampleIn the old prison camp, the deadline was a fence that no one dared to touch.
ExampleHistorical accounts of the Civil War prison camps describe the deadline as a simple wooden railing that marked the limit of a prisoner's safe movement.
Teacher's tipThis is the historical origin of the modern word, but it is rarely used today except in history books.
Show 1 more senseShow fewer
-
3 to take out of service (v.) C1 Advanced Technical Scienceto report that a vehicle or piece of equipment is broken and cannot be used.
to designate a piece of equipment, such as a vehicle or aircraft, as non-mission-capable or unfit for service.
ExampleThe mechanic had to deadline the truck because the brakes were not safe.
ExampleThe commander was forced to deadline three transport aircraft after a routine inspection revealed significant structural fatigue in the wings.
Usagetransitive verb often used in maintenance reports
Teacher's tipThis is specific to military or heavy industry contexts; everyday speakers would just say 'it's broken' or 'out of order'.
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.