Deadline Definition

dĕdlīn

deadlines

noun

A time limit, as for payment of a debt or completion of an assignment.

American Heritage

A line around a prison beyond which a prisoner could go only at the risk of being shot by a guard.

Webster's New World

A boundary which it is forbidden to cross.

Webster's New World

The latest time by which something must be done or completed.

A deadline for payment, publication, etc.

Webster's New World

(archaic) A guideline marked on a plate for a printing press.

Wiktionary

verb

To govern by setting a time limit.

American Heritage

(military) To render an item non-mission-capable; to ground an aircraft, etc.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Deadline

Singular:

deadline

Plural:

deadlines

The context of a due date originated in journalism, probably from an earlier usage in printing, representing a guideline marked on a plate for a printing press (inside which all content should appear). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, early usage refers simply to lines that do not move, such as one used in angling; slightly later American usage includes a boundary around a prison which prisoners must not cross.

From Wiktionary