Meaning & use
meeting the deadline
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
Finishing a piece of work by the agreed or required time.
Grammar: Used as a noun-like phrase: the subject is the person or team doing the work, e.g. 'She is meeting the deadline.'
Patterns
- meeting the deadline for something
- meeting a tight deadline
- have trouble meeting the deadline
The whole team stayed late, but we are meeting the deadline.
Meeting the deadline for the report was harder than we expected.
They kept meeting every deadline, so the client trusted them.
phrasefixed phrase
The act of completing work on time, seen as an achievement.
Grammar: Often used after verbs like 'depend on' or 'focus on': success depends on meeting the deadline.
Patterns
- depend on meeting the deadline
- focus on meeting the deadline
- success in meeting the deadline
Meeting the deadline is only half the job; the quality matters too.
Our bonus depends on meeting the deadline every month.
She is known for meeting the deadline without ever rushing.
Common combinations
- meet a deadline
- We worked all night to meet the deadline.
- miss a deadline
- If we miss the deadline, the order is canceled.
- a tight deadline
- It was a tight deadline, but they managed it.
- an extended deadline
- The teacher gave us an extended deadline of Friday.
- the deadline for something
- What is the deadline for applications?
Synonyms and how they differ
- on time
- Describes the result rather than the effort; 'on time' is an adverb phrase, while 'meeting the deadline' names the action.
- beating the deadline
- Similar, but suggests finishing earlier than required, with a feeling of relief or competition.
- hitting the deadline
- Informal and close in meaning; 'hitting' sounds more like a single successful moment.
Opposites
Word family
- deadline noun
- The time by which work must be finished.
- meet verb
- To satisfy a requirement or arrive at an agreed time.
Commonly confused: meeting the deadline or date line?
meeting the deadline vs date line
A 'date line' is a line on a map or a line in a newspaper; a 'deadline' is a time limit, so the two are unrelated in meaning.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
'By Friday' expresses the latest acceptable time, which fits 'meeting the deadline'. 'For Friday' sounds like the deadline belongs to Friday rather than being the limit, 'on Friday at the latest' adds a second time phrase that clashes with 'by', and 'to Friday' is not used this way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “meeting the deadline”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.