night

1 of 2

noun

ˈnīt 

1

: the time from dusk to dawn when no sunlight is visible

The store is open all night.

2

a

: an evening or night taken as an occasion or point of time

the opening night

b

: an evening set aside for a particular purpose

Thursdays is game night in our house.

3

a

: the quality or state of being dark

approached the enemy's camp under cover of night

b

: a condition or period felt to resemble the darkness of night: such as

(1)

: a period of dreary inactivity or affliction

the glories of Roman civilization were lost in a gloomy night of ignorance, superstition, and barbarism

—R. A. Hall

(2)

: absence of moral values

… that night which has for many centuries obscured our holy religion …

—Joseph Priestley

c

: the beginning of darkness : nightfall

worked in the fields until night

nightless

ˈnīt-ləs 

adjective

night

2 of 2

adjective

1

: of, relating to, or associated with the night

night air

2

: intended for use at night

a night lamp

3

a

: existing, occurring, or functioning at night

night baseball

a night nurse

b

: active or functioning best at night

night people

Synonyms

Noun

• dark
• darkness
• nighttime

Adjective

• nightly
• nighttime
• nocturnal

Examples of night in a Sentence

Noun

Who are you calling at this time of night?

It's eleven o'clock at night.

She and her husband both work at night and sleep during the day.

The store's open all night.

They were up all night long playing video games.

Let's stop for the night and get a hotel.

a cold, rainy night in the city

I stayed up late five nights in a row.

Last night, I had the strangest dream.

Spend six nights and seven days on a tropical island in the Caribbean!

Adjective

He is taking a night flight.

a night manager at the supermarket

This is the last night bus.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

As the Top 6 loomed, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie faced off Monday night in the Judge’s Song Contest, which saw the judges anonymously select songs for the Top 8 contestants to perform. —USA TODAY, 30 Apr. 2024

Adele night will be followed on May 12 by another synergistic Disney Night ep, with the final five performing two beloved songs from the Disney songbook at Walt Disney World as America votes live from coast-to-coast to send the top three to the May 19 season finale. —Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 30 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English night, niht, going back to Old English nieht, niht, umlauted form of neaht, næht, going back to Germanic *naht- (whence Old Saxon & Old High German naht "night," Old Norse nótt, nátt, Gothic nahts), going back to Indo-European *nok^w-t-, whence Old Irish innocht "tonight," Welsh peunoeth "every night" (Welsh nos "night" perhaps going back to *nok^wt-stu-), Latin noct-, nox "night," Old Church Slavic noštĭ, Lithuanian naktìs, Greek nykt-, nýx, Sanskrit nakt-, nak, Hittite nekuz "in the evening" (from an oblique case stem *nek^wt-)

Adjective

attributive use of night entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing night

• a good night's sleep
• all-night
• black-crowned night heron
• by night
• call it an early night
• call it a night
• dance the night away
• dead of night
• dead of the night
• first night
• fly-by-night
• good night
• had a late night
• hen night
• late night
• make a day/night/morning/afternoon/evening of it
• make an early night of it
• morning, noon, and night
• night after night
• night and day
• night blindness
• night-blooming cereus
• night court
• night crawler
• night depository
• night driving
• night heron
• night latch
• night letter
• night-light
• night night
• night out
• night owl
• night person
• night rail
• night raven
• night rider
• night safe
• night school
• night shift
• night soil
• night sweats
• night table
• night terror
• night vision
• night watchman
• nighty night
• one-night stand
• opening night
• queen of the night
• queen of the night cactus
• Saturday night special
• spend/stay the night
• spend the night
• spend the night together
• spend the night with (someone)
• stag night
• stay the night
• the deep of the night
• the other day/night/morning/afternoon/evening
• the still of the night
• twi-night
• under (the) cover of darkness/night
• watch night

Kids Definition

night

noun

ˈnīt

1

: the time between dusk and dawn when there is no sunlight

2

: nightfall

3

: the darkness of night

night adjective