night

noun

\ 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

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Synonyms & Antonyms for night

Synonyms: Noun

dark, darkness, nighttime

Synonyms: Adjective

nightly, nighttime, nocturnal

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

From the Kardashian-Jenner Christmas Eve party that featured sled riding in gowns to a night of gingerbread decorating with Bella Hadid and The Weeknd, the festivities during the 2018 holiday season sure looked sweet. — Lauren Rearick, Teen Vogue, "How Celebrities Including Demi Lovato, BTS, Ariana Grande, and Kylie Jenner Spent Christmas," 26 Dec. 2018 Upon their arrival, the actresses celebrated Benson's 29th birthday and Cara reportedly rented out London's Natural History Museum (same) so the two could spend a romantic night together. — Marie Claire, "Are Ashley Benson and Cara Delevingne Spending Christmas in London Together?," 24 Dec. 2018 Christmas was a night of possible pogroms and violence, with so many celebrants, often drunk, going from house to house. — Jamie Lauren Keiles, Vox, "In the US, Jews have been eating American Chinese food on Christmas for over 100 years.," 21 Dec. 2018 Entertainment Tonight averages about 5 million viewers a night, but its online counterpart reaches as many as 20 million unique visitors a month, according to TechCrunch. — Julia Alexander, The Verge, "CBS is launching a standalone streaming network for entertainment news," 31 Oct. 2018 After a three-night sailing from Singapore on September 6, several guests shared their concerns with us about the behavior of a group of other guests aboard the ship. — Fox News, "Royal Caribbean refunds passengers shocked by conference's 'crazy' burlesque cruise," 3 Oct. 2018 Dating back to the 4th century, many Christians have marked the end of the Christmas season on the Twelfth Night (or 12 nights after Christmas) — an evening also known as the Eve of the Epiphany. — Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, "When Should You Take Your Christmas Tree Down? The Answer Will Definitely Surprise You," 24 Dec. 2018 In a bizarre call back, there are many echoes here of Jamie and Claire's wedding night and their reunion in Season 3. — Outlander Fan, Marie Claire, "5 Biggest Takeaways From 'Outlander' Season 4 Episode 8," 24 Dec. 2018 Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Code discovered in the latest Android Pie build for Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 suggests the company is working on a new night photography mode called Bright Night, reports XDA-Developers. — Jon Porter, The Verge, "Samsung is working on a Night Sight response called Bright Night," 21 Dec. 2018

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-)