Out for the count

Posted by James Briggs on September 07, 2008 at 10:48

In Reply to: Out for the count posted by Linh Phung on September 07, 2008 at 10:33:

: I don't understand the meaning of the phrase "out for the count". The whole sentence is "While the Boxer rocket building makes progress, the Hale rocket is out for the count because Jamie's made an error of schoolboy proportions." So if anyone has the idea, pls help me.

It's a boxing term.If one of the two fighters is knocked out/down and can't get up from the floor before the count of ten ends then he's said to be 'out for the count'.
By inference things that over run a schedule and can't be completed on time are also said to be 'out for the count'.