night

1 of 2

noun

ˈnīt

Synonyms of night next

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

The store is open all night.

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

the opening night

: an evening set aside for a particular purpose

Thursdays is game night in our house.

: the quality or state of being dark

approached the enemy's camp under cover of night

: 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

: the beginning of darkness : nightfall

worked in the fields until night

nightless

ˈnīt-ləs

adjective

night

2 of 2

adjective

: of, relating to, or associated with the night

night air

: intended for use at night

a night lamp

: existing, occurring, or functioning at night

night baseball

a night nurse

: active or functioning best at night

night people

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. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The rest of Monday night’s episode was devoted to paying homage to the man who used to inhabit the Ed Sullivan Theater, late night legend David Letterman, back for his first visit since his retirement eight years ago. —

Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 21 Nov. 2023 Colorful sparks burst in harmony, leaving guests in awe of the spectacle that painted the night sky. —

Maia Torres, Vogue, 21 Nov. 2023 Who Won Each Time Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce Played Each Other in Football Monday night's matchup between the Eagles and the Chiefs is the fifth overall with both brothers on their respective teams. —

Stacy Lambe, Peoplemag, 21 Nov. 2023 The low season sees hotel rates drop substantially, with free transfers, free nights and room upgrades thrown in regularly. —

Anna Prendergast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Nov. 2023 The average rent for an apartment in New Orleans is around $1,350 per month, but the average price of an Airbnb in the city is $198 per night. —

Amanda Hoover, WIRED, 21 Nov. 2023 Carvey spent seven seasons on the Saturday night show from 1986-93. —

Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 21 Nov. 2023 Thursday night features mostly clear skies with lows from the lower 30s to lower 40s. —

Matt Rogers, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2023 Country music's biggest night is kicking off now at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, with the red carpet rolling out for performers and nominees including Carrie Underwood, Jelly Roll, Luke Combs and many more. —

Kate Hogan, Peoplemag, 9 Nov. 2023

Adjective

The theater hosted rare Milwaukee stops for such performers as Kevin Costner, Dana Carvey and Ray Romano with Brad Garrett, while acts like Cheap Trick, Rick Springfield, Roger Hodgson of Supertramp and the Brian Setzer Orchestra held multi-night residencies. —

Journal Sentinel, 23 Jan. 2023 The pair can also arrange multi-night pack trips or erect a camp next to an old miner’s cabin for a backcountry-light experience catered by the house chef. —

Jen Murphy, Robb Report, 4 Feb. 2023 Both of the hotel brand's overwater-bungalow resorts in the Maldives, Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani, are launchpads for day cruises or longer, multi-night sailings. —

Chrissie McClatchie, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Dec. 2022 Fortunately, most online mattress companies offer a multi-night sleep trial, typically ranging from a few months up to a year. —

Deirdre Mundorf, Discover Magazine, 25 Oct. 2021 Including those multi-night runs, the total number of shows scheduled for summer 2023 comes to 27. —

Chris Willman, Variety, 6 Oct. 2022 All-inclusive nightly rates begin at about $1,000 per couple, but there are multi-night packages that discount this 20-40%. —

Larry Olmsted, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2022 Universal Orlando has started selling tickets, multi-night admission and express passes for the 2022 edition of Halloween Horror Nights, which kicks off at Universal Studios on Sept. 2. —

Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel, 26 July 2022 Murphy and crew made their live comeback last year with a multi-night residency at Brooklyn Steel in New York, and have continued performing this year. —

Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 28 June 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'night.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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-)