night

noun

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\ 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 Phrases Containing night Learn More About night

Synonyms & Antonyms for night

Synonyms: Noun

Synonyms: Adjective

Antonyms: Noun

day,
daytime

Antonyms: Adjective

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 Leonela sat with Magallanes day and night, never leaving his side. — The Indianapolis Star, 9 Aug. 2022 The past three weeks have brought the warmest average temperatures, both day and night, ever recorded during that timespan in Boston. — Dave Epstein, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Aug. 2022 For the Night Session designs, Schantz says the team wanted to tell a story of working day and night to earn a spot under the lights at the U.S. Open. — Tim Newcomb, Forbes, 8 Aug. 2022 Shafer said rangers will patrol the trail and stop hikers at various places and times of the day and night. — Julie Jag, The Salt Lake Tribune, 8 Aug. 2022 But after that one trip, swimming across the Mexican border in the middle of the night, my father and Hill knew there had to be a better way. — Kristen Mcguiness, Rolling Stone, 7 Aug. 2022 According to police reports, Pinson was arrested in March 2020 following a two-month investigation after the 17-year-old girl and her mother made a middle-of-the-night trip to a hospital emergency room on New Year's Eve 2019. — John Lynch, Arkansas Online, 6 Aug. 2022 The 42,500 capacity venue, traditionally known as Sydney Football Stadium (and previously Aussie Stadium) will host a free community open day and night on Aug. 28, headlined by Australian artists Guy Sebastian and Baker Boy. — Lars Brandle, Billboard, 3 Aug. 2022 This dual set features a day and night mask, offering maximum hydration and smooth texture, all for a low price. — Madison Yauger, PEOPLE.com, 18 July 2022 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective 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 Those performances will be followed by similar multi-night stops in Austin and Chicago. — Christian Holub, EW.com, 20 June 2022 The trek will feature multi-night stands in major cities like Toronto, New York, Austin, Chicago, and Los Angeles, with Styles receiving support from Madi Diaz, Blood Orange, Gabriels, Jessie Ware, and Ben Harper on select dates. — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 24 May 2022 Issues with the school district’s new paycheck system, which caused some employees to receive partial paychecks or no pay at all, prompted the multi-night protest in the school district office. — Lauren Hernández, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Mar. 2022 LCD Soundsystem will return to the stage with a pair of multi-night residencies in Philadelphia and Boston this spring, marking the dance-punk pioneers’ first shows of 2022. — Kat Bouza, Rolling Stone, 22 Feb. 2022 Isbell and the 400 Unit play prestigious venues around the world, including multi-night stands at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. — Matt Wake | Mwake@al.com, al, 29 Sep. 2021 These are the places largely given over to nature, where people go to separate from the pull of modern life, often on multi-night trips. — Gregory Thomas, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Aug. 2021 See More

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-)