dead of

Idioms  

1. The period of greatest intensity of something, such as darkness or cold. For example, I love looking at seed catalogs in the dead of winter, when it's below zero outside. The earliest recorded use of dead of night, for “darkest time of night,” was in Edward Hall's Chronicle of 1548: “In the dead of the night ... he broke up his camp and fled.” Dead of winter, for the coldest part of winter, dates from the early 1600s.

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Example Sentences

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dead of

The BBC's Katie Razzall reports from outside the museum as the 70-metre long embroidery arrives in the dead of night.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

In the dead of night on Friday, a large yellow truck led by a police escort made its way through the empty streets of London.

From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026

So an array of contractors built the wall out of stone and cobble in the dead of winter without a permit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

In addition to the four euthanized wolves, two wolves died from vehicle strikes, three were found dead of unknown causes, and three additional deaths are under investigation.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2026

Marched off the porch, right out into the dead of night, where supposedly the animals were wide awake and walking around like human beings.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver