a time limit for any activity
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
dead•line /ˈdɛdˌlaɪn/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- the time by which something must be finished:Our deadline was only two hours away.
dead•line
(ded′līn′),USA pronunciation n.
- the time by which something must be finished or submitted;
the latest time for finishing something:a five o'clock deadline. - a line or limit that must not be passed.
- Military(formerly) a boundary around a military prison beyond which a prisoner could not venture without risk of being shot by the guards.
- dead + line1 1855–60
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'deadline' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
ahead
- charrette
- clock
- college try
- countdown
- crash
- crash program
- curfew
- drop-dead date
- gun
- hand
- last minute
- meet
- pitch
- rush
- slippage
- stare
- stark
- time
- wire
- word
- wrought-up