Halloween

noun

Hal·​low·​een ˌha-lə-ˈwēn  ˌhä- 

variants or less commonly Hallowe'en

: October 31 observed especially with dressing up in disguise, trick-or-treating, and displaying jack-o'-lanterns during the evening

Examples of Halloween in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

When Hen nearly lost her son in a car accident this past Halloween, that felt real. —Andy Swift, TVLine, 24 Apr. 2025

Hordes of horror films line up for Halloween and a sleigh full of Christmas movies arrive annually in December, but there is slightly less competition around the paper-pushing rite of Tax Day. —Jake Coyle, Twin Cities, 24 Apr. 2025

In 2020, she was banned from Twitch for a Halloween stream. —Veronica Villafañe, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025

In the late 1980s, the actor met his future wife at a Halloween party in New Orleans. —Emily Weaver, People.com, 23 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

short for All Hallow Even (All Saints' Eve)

First Known Use

circa 1700, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Halloween

• acrolein
• adenine
• alkylene
• aniline
• anthracene
• aquiline
• asphaltene
• atlantean
• atrazine
• butadiene
• butylene
• caesarean

Kids Definition

Halloween

noun

Hal·​low·​een ˌhal-ə-ˈwēn  ˌhäl- 

: October 31 celebrated especially by wearing costumes, trick-or-treating, and displaying jack-o'-lanterns

Etymology

an altered form of All Hallow Even, the eve of All Saints' Day

Word Origin

Modern-day Christians know the first of November as All Saints' Day. In the Middle Ages it was called All Hallow Day. This was a hallowed or holy day celebrated in honor of all the saints in heaven. Since November 1 was a special holy day with a special name, the day before it had a special name as well. October 31 was called All Hallow Eve or All Hallow Even. The words eve and even were used both for the evening and the day before a special day. This name was sometimes written All Hallow E'en and later shortened to Halloween.