night

noun

Save Word

\ ˈnīt

Definition of night

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : the time from dusk to dawn when no sunlight is visible The store is open all night.

2a : 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.

3a : 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

night

adjective

Definition of night (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : of, relating to, or associated with the night night air

2 : intended for use at night a night lamp

3a : existing, occurring, or functioning at night night baseball a night nurse

b : active or functioning best at night night people

Other Words from night Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about night

Keep scrolling for more

Synonyms & Antonyms for night

Synonyms: Noun

Synonyms: Adjective

Antonyms: Noun

day,
daytime

Antonyms: Adjective

daily,
diurnal

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 Harmon and her husband have been managing, using a generator to power their fridge and freezer during the day, and turning it off at night. — oregonlive, "In Oregon City, a high school turned emergency shelter offers respite," 19 Feb. 2021 Nixon's girlfriend was with him that entire night but could not testify in his trial as a codefendant. — Miriam Marini, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit man freed from life sentence after investigation shows trial was unfair," 18 Feb. 2021 On April 30, night two of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which occurred after a trial jury acquitted the four officers who used excessive force against Rodney King during an arrest, the network was ready to air a rerun. — Zoe Haylock, Vulture, "Arsenio Hall on Hosting His Talk Show During the L.A. Riots: ‘I Was Twitter’," 16 Feb. 2021 Bar areas will have to close by 11 p.m. every night, there’s a four-person maximum for tables at the bar (with people from up to two households per table), and mingling and standing at the bar is prohibited. — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, "R.I. bar owners still hesitant about business during COVID-19," 12 Feb. 2021 Wildcats guard Mike McGuirl was a nuisance all night, scampering his way to 18 points, five assists and four steals. — Nick Moyle, San Antonio Express-News, "No. 13 Texas hangs on to beat Kansas State after fast start," 9 Feb. 2021 That also means Hinton, an undrafted rookie from Houston who’s been one of the most active, engaged and enthusiastic Mavericks on the bench each night, will have to take a break from his off-court cheering. — Callie Caplan, Dallas News, "Mavs’ two-way rookies Nate Hinton and Tyler Bey will play in G League bubble — with the Brooklyn Nets’ affiliate," 2 Feb. 2021 In a way, Walker was the poster child for the Spurs’ second night in Minnesota. — Jeff Mcdonald, ExpressNews.com, "San Antonio Spurs aim to finish road trip strong in Oklahoma City," 11 Jan. 2021 In the regular gambler’s fallacy, the gambler has been at the casino all night and has had a terrible run of bad luck. — Philip Goff, Scientific American, "Our Improbable Existence Is No Evidence for a Multiverse," 10 Jan. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective The bulk of the 2020 accolades were distributed earlier this week during the multi-night Creative Arts Emmy Awards. — Nardine Saad, chicagotribune.com, "2020 Emmy Awards: How to watch this year’s pandemic edition," 20 Sep. 2020 Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica and the Farmhouse Inn in Sonoma, for example, have partnered on multi-night packages targeted at inter-California travel. — Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, "How Travel Will Change," 29 May 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'night.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for night

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-)