nightfall

noun

night·​fall ˈnīt-ˌfȯl How to pronounce nightfall (audio)
: the close of the day : dusk

Examples of nightfall in a Sentence

When nightfall came, we were still waiting for the electricity to come back on. since you aren't taking a flashlight, make sure you're back at camp by nightfall
Recent Examples on the Web By nightfall, the street was crowded with apparently hot merchandise: carbon-monoxide detectors, Leviton tamper-resistant outlets, and, notably, hundreds of heavy spools of copper and electrical wiring, the most expensive of which can retail for more than seven hundred dollars. Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2024 Starters can be in the rotation one day and in Oklahoma City by nightfall. Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2024 Even well after nightfall, gunbattles continued in some locations. TIME, 7 Oct. 2023 There could be a brief gap in new snowfall Monday, but by nightfall and continuing into Tuesday, more snow could fall, mostly concentrated over the Sierra north of Highway 50. Samantha Masunaga, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2024 Clouds moved in and by nightfall intermittent flurries were dropping snow on the lawn of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art where people had been sunbathing only hours before. Tammy Ljungblad, Kansas City Star, 28 Feb. 2024 This year’s observation begins the evening of May 5 and ends at nightfall on May 6. Jose R. Gonzalez, The Arizona Republic, 27 Jan. 2024 The weather service forecasts 1 to 3 inches of rain for New England by nightfall Tuesday. Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2024 Intuitive Machines anticipates just a week of operations on the moon for the solar-powered lander, before lunar nightfall hits. Marcia Dunn The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 24 Feb. 2024

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

Word History

First Known Use

1700, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nightfall was in 1700

Dictionary Entries Near nightfall

Cite this Entry

“Nightfall.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nightfall. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

nightfall

noun
night·​fall -ˌfȯl How to pronounce nightfall (audio)
: the coming of night : dusk

More from Merriam-Webster on nightfall

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