deadline

noun

dead·​line ˈded-ˌlīn 

1

: a line drawn within or around a prison that a prisoner passes at the risk of being shot

2

a

: a date or time before which something must be done

b

: the time after which copy is not accepted for a particular issue of a publication

Phrases

on deadline or under deadline

: with the requirement of meeting a deadline

working on deadline

Examples of deadline in a Sentence

She worked on her composition right up until the deadline.

We had to hurry to meet the deadline.

The project was completed a week past its deadline.

The deadline for submitting college applications is April 19th.

They're working under a deadline.

Recent Examples on the Web

Major shipping carriers including USPS, FedEx, and UPS have released their 2025 holiday shipping deadlines. —Jalen Williams, Freep.com, 11 Nov. 2025

Countries were supposed to submit their plans for cutting climate pollution up to 2035 by a February deadline. —Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 11 Nov. 2025

Room for Disagreement Demand for Article 6 credits will probably pick up later this decade once the first deadlines for many countries’ climate targets start to kick in, Turner said. —Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 11 Nov. 2025

The deadline to apply for federal student aid for next school year is June 30, 2026. —Emily Holshouser, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1864, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for deadline

• affine
• airline
• align
• aline
• assign
• baseline
• beamline
• benign
• bloodline
• bovine
• byline
• canine

Kids Definition

deadline

noun

dead·​line ˈded-ˌlīn 

: a date or time before which something must be done