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night

 - 4 dictionary results

night

  [nahyt]
Use night in a Sentence
–noun
1. the period of darkness between sunset and sunrise.
2. the beginning of this period; nightfall.
3. the darkness of night; the dark.
4. a condition or time of obscurity, ignorance, sinfulness, misfortune, etc.: the long night of European history known as the Dark Ages.
5. (sometimes initial capital letter) an evening used or set aside for a particular event, celebration, or other special purpose: a night on the town; poker night; New Year's Night.
–adjective
6. of or pertaining to night: the night hours.
7. occurring, appearing, or seen at night: a night raid; a night bloomer.
8. used or designed to be used at night: to take a night coach; the night entrance.
9. working at night: night nurse; the night shift.
10. active at night: the night feeders of the jungle.
—Idiom
11. night and day, unceasingly; continually: She worked night and day until the job was done.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE niht, neaht, c. G Nacht, Goth nahts, L nox (s. noct-), Gk nýx (s. nykt-)

Related forms:
nightless, adjective
night⋅less⋅ly, adverb
nightlike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To night
night   (nīt)   
n.  

    1. The period between sunset and sunrise, especially the hours of darkness.

    2. This period considered as a unit of time: for two nights running.

    3. This period considered from its conditions: a rainy night.

    4. The period between evening and bedtime.

    5. This period considered from its activities: a night at the opera.

    6. This period set aside for a specific purpose: Parents' Night at school.

    7. The period between bedtime and morning: spent the night at a motel.

    8. One's sleep during this period: had a restless night.

    9. A time or condition of gloom, obscurity, ignorance, or despair: "In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning" (F. Scott Fitzgerald).

    10. A time or condition marked by absence of moral or ethical values: "He never would have let us go untroubled into the night of private greed" (Anthony Lewis).

  2. The period between dusk and midnight of a given day: either late Thursday night or early Friday morning.

    1. The period between evening and bedtime.

    2. This period considered from its activities: a night at the opera.

    3. This period set aside for a specific purpose: Parents' Night at school.

    4. The period between bedtime and morning: spent the night at a motel.

    5. One's sleep during this period: had a restless night.

    6. A time or condition of gloom, obscurity, ignorance, or despair: "In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning" (F. Scott Fitzgerald).

    7. A time or condition marked by absence of moral or ethical values: "He never would have let us go untroubled into the night of private greed" (Anthony Lewis).

    1. The period between bedtime and morning: spent the night at a motel.

    2. One's sleep during this period: had a restless night.

    3. A time or condition of gloom, obscurity, ignorance, or despair: "In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning" (F. Scott Fitzgerald).

    4. A time or condition marked by absence of moral or ethical values: "He never would have let us go untroubled into the night of private greed" (Anthony Lewis).

  5. Nightfall: worked from morning to night.

  6. Darkness: vanished into the night.

    1. A time or condition of gloom, obscurity, ignorance, or despair: "In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning" (F. Scott Fitzgerald).

    2. A time or condition marked by absence of moral or ethical values: "He never would have let us go untroubled into the night of private greed" (Anthony Lewis).

adj.  

  1. Of or relating to the night: the night air.

  2. Intended for use at night: a night light.

  3. Working during the night: the night nurse.

  4. Active chiefly at night: night prowlers.

  5. Occurring after dark: night baseball.


[Middle English, from Old English niht; see nekw-t- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

night 
O.E. niht (W.Saxon neaht, Anglian næht, neht), the vowel indicating that the modern word derives from oblique cases (gen. nihte, dat. niht), from P.Gmc. *nakht- (cf. O.H.G. naht, O.Fris., Du., Ger. nacht, O.N. natt, Goth. nahts), from PIE *nok(w)t- (cf. Gk. nuks "a night," L. nox, O.Ir. nochd, Skt. naktam "at night," Lith. naktis "night," O.C.S. nosti, Rus. noch', Welsh henoid "tonight"). For spelling with -gh- see fight.
"The fact that the Aryans have a common name for night, but not for day (q.v.), is due to the fact that they reckoned by nights." [Weekley]
Cf. Ger. Weihnachten "Christmas." In early times, the day was held to begin at sunset, so O.E. monanniht "Monday night" was the night before Monday, or what we would call Sunday night. Nightclub "club open at night" is from 1894; nightspot in the same sense is from 1936. Nightstick (1887) so called because it was carried for night patrols. To work nights preserves the O.E. genitive of time. Night shift is attested from 1710 in the sense of "garment worn by a woman at night" (see shift); meaning "gang of workers employed after dark" is from 1839. Night soil "excrement" (1770) is so called because it was removed (from cesspools, etc.) after dark.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

night

In addition to the idioms beginning with night, also see black as night; call it a day (night); dead of (night); different as night and day; good night; make a day (night) of it; ships that pass in the night.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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