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.

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dead of

“It was the dead of winter, and there was this 18-year-old, I would say, standing in the doorway, hunched over against the cold.”

From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026

The work travelled across the Channel on the Eurotunnel before making its way to central London in the dead of night.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

But the ultimate vindication of the Fourth of July would come four months later, at the dedication of the national cemetery at Gettysburg for the Union dead of the battle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

"Finally, in the dead of the night we sailed through the danger zone," he said, speaking to AFP via telephone at sea.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

What about issuing stickers printed with the words “This apostrophe is not necessary”? What about telling people to shin up ladders at dead of night with an apostrophe-shaped stencil and a tin of paint?

From "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Author

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---