dead time

American  

noun

1. downtime.

2. Electronics. an interval during which an actuating signal produces no response.

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dead time British  

noun

1. electronics the interval of time immediately following a stimulus, during which an electrical device, component, etc, is insensitive to a further stimulus

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Etymology

Origin of dead time

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

The dog days of summer are also a historically dead time in Hollywood, when power brokers take lengthy vacations and the pace of deal-making stalls.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 28, 2023

“What was really removed from the game was that dead time — pitchers walking around the mound, batters fixing their batting gloves, taking extra pitches in the bullpen, walking in from there.”

From Seattle Times • Feb. 21, 2023

The clock would address baseball’s most infuriating dead time — hitters wandering away from home plate during an at-bat, as though puzzling about Fermat’s Last Theorem.

From Washington Post • Mar. 16, 2022

Mr Gidney, principal dentist at a practice in Monmouthshire which has 7,000 patients, said the "dead time" was limiting how many non-urgent patients they could see and creating a "bottleneck" in the system.

From BBC • Aug. 28, 2021

Like you probably do, I productively fill the gaps that most people leave as dead time.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis