Definition of one-night stand
1
: a performance (as of a play or concert) given (as by a traveling group of actors or musicians) only once in each of a series of localities
2a
: a locality used for one-night stands
b
: a stopover for a one-night stand
3
: a sexual encounter limited to a single occasion
also
: a partner in such an encounter
Examples of one-night stand in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Kevin has a breakdown on the lawn of a one-night stand.
—
Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 26 May 2021
The 29-minute short stars Joey Bada$$ as Carter, a man riding high off of a one-night stand who encounters a racist cop who harasses him and ultimately murders him in broad daylight … followed by Carter waking up in bed again.
—
Joe Reid, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2021
So she'd been thrown off her Manic Pixie Dream Girl game when Orson had called after their one-night stand and asked her out again.
—
Rachel Epstein, Marie Claire, 29 Mar. 2021
In ‘Cucumber,’ the entire thing takes six episodes to head towards this disastrous one-night stand where a man is murdered.
—
New York Times, 7 Feb. 2021
Yes, this one-night stand occurred before Akeem met Lisa.
—
Scott Mendelson, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2021
The story of a man forced to grow up when his one-night stand gets pregnant errs a bit too much on the side of the male view, but one can’t deny the pure laughs-per-minute ratio.
—
Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 23 Jan. 2021
In getting this point across to Kate, Ellie again expresses her deep regret about the one-night stand that resulted in the baby.
—
Amanda Ostuni, EW.com, 18 Nov. 2020
Still, Marsh manages to tie it all together with humor and warmth, turning a one-night stand into a story with the emotional resonance to go the distance.
—
Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 4 Dec. 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'one-night stand.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Last Updated
18 Jun 2021
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Cite this Entry
“One-night stand.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/one-night%20stand. Accessed 22 Jun. 2021.
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Time Traveler for one-night stand
The first known use of one-night stand was in 1880
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