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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dead time

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

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

A pitch clock would eliminate much of the dead time caused when hitters step out of the batter’s box and pitchers back off the mound and take deep breaths on the infield grass.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2021

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

When, during the 3:00-4:00 o’clock dead time, I finally sit down to wrap silver, my flesh seems to bond to the seat.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich

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