Meanings
plural deadlines
- A time limit in the form of a date on or before which something must be completed.
I must make this deadline or my boss will kill me!
1 more example
TfW's [Transport for Wales] plans to meet the PRM [Persons with Reduced Mobility] deadline and withdraw all Pacers by 1 January have been made more difficult by delays to introduction of Class 769 and 230 units.
2019 October, Rhodri Clark, “TfW seeks PRM derogation for Class 37 sets”, in Modern Railways, page 87Synonyms: closing date
- archaicA guideline marked on a plate for a printing press.
- archaicA line that does not move.
present singular third person deadlines · participle present deadlining · participle past deadlined · past deadlined
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA time limit in the form of a date on or before which something must be completed.
Origin
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.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic أَجَل, مُهْلَة
- أَجَل (ʔajal)date on or before which something must be completed
- مُهْلَة (muhla)date on or before which something must be completed
Bulgarian краен срок
- краен срок (kraen srok)date on or before which something must be completed
Catalan termini
- terminidate on or before which something must be completed
Chinese Mandarin 截止日期, 限期
- 截止日期date on or before which something must be completed
- 限期date on or before which something must be completed
- 期限 (qíxiàn)date on or before which something must be completed
- 死線 /死线 (sǐxiàn)date on or before which something must be completed
Czech uzávěrka, termín
- uzávěrkadate on or before which something must be completed
- termíndate on or before which something must be completed
Danish deadline, afleveringsfrist
- deadlinedate on or before which something must be completed
- afleveringsfristdate on or before which something must be completed
- fristdate on or before which something must be completed
Dutch termijn, deadline
- termijndate on or before which something must be completed
- deadlinedate on or before which something must be completed
Esperanto limdato
- limdatodate on or before which something must be completed
Estonian tähtaeg
- tähtaegdate on or before which something must be completed
Finnish takaraja, määräaika
- takarajadate on or before which something must be completed
- määräaikadate on or before which something must be completed
- deadlinedate on or before which something must be completed
French date butoir, date limite
- date butoirdate on or before which something must be completed
- date limitedate on or before which something must be completed
- échéancedate on or before which something must be completed
German Stichtag, Frist
- Stichtagdate on or before which something must be completed
- Fristdate on or before which something must be completed
- Termindate on or before which something must be completed
- Deadlinedate on or before which something must be completed
Greek προθεσμία
- προθεσμία (prothesmía)date on or before which something must be completed
Hungarian határidő
- határidődate on or before which something must be completed
Indonesian tenggat waktu, batas waktu
- tenggat waktudate on or before which something must be completed
- batas waktudate on or before which something must be completed
Irish spriocdháta, sprioc-am
- spriocdhátadate on or before which something must be completed
- sprioc-amdate on or before which something must be completed
Italian scadenza, termine
- scadenzadate on or before which something must be completed
- terminedate on or before which something must be completed
- limitedate on or before which something must be completed
Japanese 期限, 締め切り
- 期限 (kigen)date on or before which something must be completed
- 締め切り (shimekiri)date on or before which something must be completed
- デッドライン (deddorain)date on or before which something must be completed
Korean 마감, 데드라인
- 마감 (magam)date on or before which something must be completed
- 데드라인 (dedeurain)date on or before which something must be completed
Latin terminus ante quem
- terminus ante quemdate on or before which something must be completed
Norwegian Bokmål tidsfrist
- tidsfristdate on or before which something must be completed
Polish deadline, termin końcowy
- deadlinedate on or before which something must be completed
- termin końcowydate on or before which something must be completed
- termin granicznydate on or before which something must be completed
- termin ostatecznydate on or before which something must be completed
Portuguese prazo final, data-limite
- prazo finaldate on or before which something must be completed
- data-limitedate on or before which something must be completed
- prazo-limitedate on or before which something must be completed
Romanian timp limită
- timp limitădate on or before which something must be completed
Russian кра́йний срок, после́дний срок
- кра́йний срок (krájnij srok)date on or before which something must be completed
- после́дний срок (poslédnij srok)date on or before which something must be completed
- дедла́йн (dɛdlájn)date on or before which something must be completed
- срок (srok)date on or before which something must be completed
Scottish Gaelic ceann-ama
- ceann-amadate on or before which something must be completed
Spanish plazo, expiración/caducidad de/del plazo
- plazo (fin/vencimiento de/del)date on or before which something must be completed
- expiración/caducidad de/del plazodate on or before which something must be completed
- data límite/topedate on or before which something must be completed
- dedlaindate on or before which something must be completed
Swedish tidsfrist, deadline
- tidsfristdate on or before which something must be completed
- deadlinedate on or before which something must be completed
Tagalog palugit
- palugitdate on or before which something must be completed
Thai เส้นตาย
- เส้นตาย (sên-dtaai)date on or before which something must be completed
Turkish mühlet, deadline
- mühletdate on or before which something must be completed
- deadlinedate on or before which something must be completed
- termindate on or before which something must be completed
Ukrainian строк, те́рмін
- строк (strok)date on or before which something must be completed
- те́рмін (términ)date on or before which something must be completed
Vietnamese hạn chót, hạn
- hạn chótdate on or before which something must be completed
- hạndate on or before which something must be completed
- thời hạndate on or before which something must be completed
Welsh dyddiad cau
- dyddiad caudate on or before which something must be completed
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with deadline
All rhymes →Cite this entry
deadline. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deadline
“deadline.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deadline. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deadline,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deadline.
Source: deadline on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.