请输入您要查询的英文单词：

　

单词 night
释义

nightn.int.

Brit. /nʌɪt/, U.S. /naɪt/
Forms:

α. early Old English nact, early Old English naecht, early Old English naect, early Old English næct, early Old English naeht, Old English næht (Anglian), Old English neaht, Old English (rare)–early Middle English naht, early Middle English nacht, early Middle English nagt, early Middle English nahht ( Ormulum), early Middle English naist, early Middle English nait, early Middle English naught, early Middle English nauht, Middle English naght, Middle English naȝt, Middle English naȝte, Middle English nauȝt, Middle English naut.

β. Old English necht (rare), Old English necst (probably transmission error), Old English neht (Anglian), Old English neth (probably transmission error), Old English–early Middle English nieht, Old English–Middle English niht, Old English (rare)–Middle English nihtt, Old English–Middle English nyht, early Middle English nicht, early Middle English nicst, early Middle English nict, early Middle English nig, early Middle English nih, early Middle English nihht ( Ormulum), early Middle English nijȝt, early Middle English nikte, early Middle English nist, early Middle English niþt, early Middle English 1600s nigt, early Middle English (1600s– chiefly regional and nonstandard) nite, Middle English myght (transmission error), Middle English myȝt (transmission error), Middle English neght, Middle English neghte, Middle English neyȝt, Middle English neyȝte, Middle English neyȝth, Middle English neyth, Middle English nhyht, Middle English nichȝ, Middle English nichte, Middle English niȝht, Middle English niȝst, Middle English niȝt, Middle English niȝte, Middle English niȝth, Middle English niȝtt, Middle English nihte, Middle English nithe, Middle English noyȝth (transmission error), Middle English nycht, Middle English nyȝ, Middle English nygh, Middle English nyȝht, Middle English nyȝhte, Middle English nyghth, Middle English nyghtt, Middle English nyȝt, Middle English nyȝte, Middle English nygthe, Middle English nyȝthe, Middle English nyȝtht, Middle English nygtt, Middle English nyȝtt, Middle English nyhet (perhaps transmission error), Middle English nyhte, Middle English nyhyt (perhaps transmission error), Middle English nyt, Middle English nytȝ, Middle English nyth, Middle English nythe, Middle English nyught, Middle English–1500s nith, Middle English–1500s nyȝth, Middle English–1500s nygth, Middle English–1500s nyte, Middle English–1600s (1700s– archaic) nyghte, Middle English–1600s (1900s– archaic) nyght, Middle English–1700s (1800s– archaic) nighte, Middle English– night, 1500s nygt; English regional (northern) 1700s– neeght, 1800s– neet; Scottish pre-1700 naycht, pre-1700 neighte, pre-1700 netht, pre-1700 nette, pre-1700 neycht, pre-1700 nich, pre-1700 nichtt, pre-1700 nych, pre-1700 nychte, pre-1700 nyght, pre-1700 nynt (transmission error), pre-1700 nyt, pre-1700 nytcht, pre-1700 nyte, pre-1700 nytht, pre-1700 1700s– nicht, pre-1700 1700s– night, pre-1700 1800s– necht, pre-1700 1800s– neicht, pre-1700 1800s– nycht, pre-1700 1900s– neight; also Irish English 1800s neeght (Wexford), 1800s nieght (Wexford), 1800s nyeght (Wexford), 1900s– nich' (northern), 1900s– nicht (northern).

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian nacht (West Frisian nacht ), Middle Dutch nacht (Dutch nacht ), Old Saxon naht (Middle Low German nacht ), Old High German naht (Middle High German naht , German Nacht ), Old Icelandic nátt , nótt (Icelandic nótt ), Old Swedish nat (Swedish natt ), Danish nat , Gothic nahts < the Indo-European base of Sanskrit nak , nakt- (compare nakshatra n.), ancient Greek νυκτ-, νύξ, classical Latin noct-, nox ( > Old French noit, nuit (Middle French, French nuit), Italian notte, Spanish noche, Portuguese noite, Romanian noapte), Gaulish noct- (only in compounds, as decamnoctiacis (festival) of 10 nights), Early Irish nocht night (Irish anocht tonight; compare Old Welsh henoid tonight (Welsh heno)), Old Church Slavonic noshtĭ, Russian noč′, Lithuanian naktis, Albanian natë.The word is originally a Germanic feminine athematic consonant stem (compare book n., borough n., goose n., louse n., etc.), which in Old English would be expected to show variation between on the one hand the nominative and accusative singular form (West Saxon) neaht , (Anglian) næht (with smoothing), and on the other the genitive and dative singular and nominative and accusative plural form with i-mutation (West Saxon) nieht (later West Saxon niht ), (Anglian) neht . However, the word was widely assimilated to other declensions with consequent levelling of forms: in West Saxon forms with mutated stem vowel, e.g. niht , nieht , predominate, and this vowel is levelled to all cases, although forms with unmutated stem vowel, e.g. neaht , are also found, whereas in Anglian the unmutated form næht is practically universal. The α. forms show the unmutated vowel, and the β. forms (which entirely displace the α. forms by the end of the Middle English period) the mutated vowel. Many Scots forms show the usual lowering of Middle English short ĭ to ĕ ; several forms also show 16th-cent. diphthongization of this vowel before /ç/, common in northern and southern dialects. The plural is uninflected for nominative and accusative; this unchanged plural survived, alongside the analogical inflected plural, down to the end of the Middle English period, in sense A. 4a. Compare fortnight n. and sennight n.
A. n.
I. The period of darkness after day.
1.
a. The period of darkness occurring between one day and the next; that part of a 24-hour period during which a place receives no light from the sun; the time between evening and morning.For legal or other official purposes night is often defined with reference to specified times; see quot. 1909 at β. .
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun]
nighteOE
nightertalec1300
darkc1400
nightertimec1425
night-timec1430
night-tidea1500
night-season1530
darkmans?1536
Nox1567
moonshine1652
darkie?1738
the watches of the night1826
nite1928
bat-flight1934
α.
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) ciii. 19 (20) Posuisti tenebras et facta est nox : ðu settes ðeostru & geworden wes naeht.
eOE Metres of Boethius (transcript of damaged MS) xx. 229 Ealle hi scinað ðurh þa sciran neaht.
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xiv. 25 Quarta autem uigilia noctis uenit ad eos ambulans supra mare : ðiu feorða uutedlice waccen næhtes cuom to him geongende uel geeode ofer sæ.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 16942 Þe nahht maȝȝ ec bitacnenn uss. All þatt stafflike lare. Off moysæsess laȝhe boc.
β. OE Beowulf 115 Gewat ða neosian, syþðan niht becom, hean huses.OE Blickling Homilies 207 Næs hweðre nænig man þe þær æfre nihtes tidum dorste on þære ciricean cuman.OE Ælfric De Temporibus Anni (Cambr. Gg.3.28) iii. §18. 24 Seo niht hæfð seofan dælas fram ðære sunnan setlunge oð hire upgang.OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion (Ashm.) (1995) i. i. 4 On anum dæge and þære nihte beoð feower and twentig tida.lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) xxxix. 136 Sio sunne & se mona habbað todæled betwuht him þone dæg & þa niht.c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (1973) 1682 Þer is a liht..Ne niht nis ter neauer.c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 404 (MED) Ihesu crist..makede mone On þe mirke nith to shine.c1330 Sir Orfeo (Auch.) (1966) 370 (MED) When it schuld be þerk & niȝt, Þe riche stones liȝt gonne.c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 526 Sesounes schal you neuer sese; of sede, ne of heruest;..Ne þe nyȝt, ne þe day.a1450 York Plays (1885) 273 (MED) Þe sonne..To þe grounde..gois with his bemys, And þe nyght is neghand anone.1490 W. Caxton tr. Eneydos xxiv. 90 Ye nyghte..gyueth triews to alle labours, and by slepyng maketh swete alle peynes and traueylles.a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 245 Than wixen the dayes more shorte than they weryn and the nyght more longyr.1548 W. Forrest Pleasaunt Poesye 183 in T. Starkey Eng. in Reign King Henry VIII (1878) i. p. xc The daye in too the nyght shee can conuerte.1566 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 447 Undir silence of nycht befoir day.1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. v. 10 I am thy fathers spirit, doomd for a time To walke the night.1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 166 Images of young men..with torches in their hands, for the use of the night.1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iv. 403 Branching arms thick intertwind might shield From dews and damps of night his shelter'd head. View more context for this quotation1712 E. Budgell Spectator No. 425. ¶3 I reflected..upon the sweet Vicissitudes of Night and Day.1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the First 7 Ev'n silent Night proclaims my soul immortal.1781 S. J. Pratt Fair Circassian v. i. 63 The face may be conceal'd—it will be night.1821 P. B. Shelley Adonais xxi. 14 Evening must usher night, night urge the morrow.1890 H. Caine Bondman ii. vii The night of the northern land had closed down.1909 Westm. Gaz. 16 Apr. 5/1 The Bill is silent as to the effect of the change on..arrests which may be made in the night. In the case of burglary, ‘night’ means between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.1964 A. Nin Collages 11 It was the statue with wings, on its heels, the one she was convinced travelled during the night.1993 H. N. Thomas Spirits in Dark v. 40 Crickets, owls, bullfrogs in the canal, and dogs began the noises of the night.
b. Chiefly literary and poetic. The darkness that prevails at this time, the dark; (also) the night air.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [noun] > darkness of night
nightOE
murk nightc1300
shadowsa1382
night-shade1558
the shades (of night, of evening, etc.)1582
owl-light1599
black1683
OE Hymns (Julius A.vi) xxiii. 1 in H. Gneuss Hymnar u. Hymnen im englischen Mittelalter (1968) 290 Contegit atra nox colores omnium rerum terre : oferwrihð sweart niht bleoh eallra þinga eorðan.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 6222 (MED) Ne hii ne miȝte yse uor þe niȝte.
?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. i. met. iii. 12 The nyght semeth sprad upon erthe.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 368 Betwixt those Regions, and our upper Light, Deep Forrests, and impenetrable Night Possess the middle space.
1702 N. Rowe Tamerlane v. i. 68 Bright Troops of crowding Torches, who from thence On either Hand stretch far into the Night.
1713 J. Smith tr. Horace in Poems upon Several Occasions 144 The pale sickly Moon's expiring Light With humid Beams dissolve into the Night.
1774 T. Hull Henry II iv. 47 Night gathers round apace: Ascend, thick gloom.
1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud i. iv, in Maud & Other Poems 3 I heard The shrill-edged shriek..divide the shuddering night.
1879 E. Arnold Light of Asia iv. 102 Then, lightly treading where those sleepers lay, Into the night Siddârtha passed.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles II. xxx. 116 When they had wrapped themselves up..in the sail-cloth again, they plunged back into the now thick night.
1917 E. Wharton Summer xvi. 257 Liff came up, leading the buggy out of the night.
1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day ii. 40 It made everything she sang sound like religious music, rising up through the floor and flooding the night.
1992 C. McCarthy All Pretty Horses (1993) i. 4 The train..the long light of the headlamp..creating out of the night the endless fenceline down the dead straight right of way.
c. In comparisons, as black (also dark, etc.) as night.
ΚΠ
c1390 (?a1300) Stations of Rome (Vernon) (1867) i. l. 194 (MED) Þou most take Candel liht, Elles þou gost Merk as niht [v.r. as derk as nyȝt].
a1400 (c1300) Northern Homily: Serm. on Gospels (Coll. Phys.) in Middle Eng. Dict. at Mirk(e He..makid briht The trowthe that ar was mirk als niht.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. 1725 (MED) And sodeynly þe wedir, dirke as nyȝt, With new lyȝt by grace gan adawe.
a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) 11562 (MED) Þe sunne shal lese his light And by-come derke as night.
1565 B. Googe tr. ‘M. Palingenius’ Zodiake of Life (new ed.) ix. sig. IIjv And gastly syghtes of fyre doe flashe, from cloudes as darke as night.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. i. 15 Yong Gentlemen would be as sad as night Onely for wantonnesse. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 308 His look Drew audience and attention still as Night . View more context for this quotation
a1678 A. Marvell Epit. in Misc. Poems (1681) 72 Gentle as Ev'ning; cool as Night.
1759 W. Mason Caractacus 71 Silent, as night, that wrapt us in her veil, We pac'd up yonder hill.
1795 J. Benson in Mem. (1892) 284 They were all as silent and serious as night.
1821 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto III lxxv. 40 Her eyelashes, though dark as night, were tinged.
1854 H. D. Thoreau Walden 282 One black chicken..black as night and as silent..went to roost.
1893 Earl of Dunmore Pamirs I. 4 Their hair..was as black as night.
1911 J. M. Barrie Peter & Wendy viii. 125 It was not..that night had come, but something as dark as night had come.
1956 N. Algren Walk on Wild Side i. 109 It was night bright as day, it was day dark as night.
1993 C. Fowler Red Bride (BNC) 325 At 8.00 a.m. the clouds above the town were as black as night.
d. poetic and literary. Night or darkness personified, esp. as a female being or deity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > specific thing as > personification of night
nightc1395
c1395 G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale 1798 Night with his mantel that is derk and rude Gan ouersprede themysperie aboute.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iii. 547 (MED) Cruel Allecto is besy me to lette, Þe nyȝtes douȝter, blindid by dirknes, Be craft of armys þe trouþe to expresse.
c1460 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Harl. 1239) (1895) iii. 1435 O blake nyght..thou thus fleest and deyneth vs to Reste.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 388 They..must for aye consort with black browed night . View more context for this quotation
1645 J. Milton Il Penseroso in Poems 42 Thus night oft see me in thy pale career.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 894 The secrets of the hoarie deep..where eldest Night And Chaos, Ancestors of Nature, hold Eternal Anarchie. View more context for this quotation
1743 A. Pope Dunciad (rev. ed.) iv. 630 The sable Throne behold Of Night Primæval, and of Chaos old.
1788 S. T. Coleridge Sonnet to Autumnal Moon Mild Splendour of the various-vested Night.
1820 P. B. Shelley Sensitive Plant in Prometheus Unbound 163 Like the lamps of the air when night walks forth.
1849 H. D. Thoreau Week Concord & Merrimack Rivers 43 The barking of the house dogs..was a sufficiency of sound for the ear of night, and more impressive than any music.
1896 E. W. Wilcox Custer & Other Poems 29 When knowing Night her dusky scarf has tied Across the bold, intrusive eyes of day.
1972 R. Graves Poems 1970–2 27 Breakfast peremptorily closes The reign of Night, her dream extravagances Recalled for laughter only.
e. [Compare post-classical Latin In nocte consilium (Erasmus Adagia (1508) ii. ii. xliii).] Proverb. night brings counsel and variants.
ΚΠ
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. i. sig. A7v Vntroubled night they say giues counsell best.
1660 J. Dryden Astræa Redux 8 Well might the Ancient Poets then confer On Night the honour'd name of Counseller.
1928 L. Thayer Darkest Spot viii. 210 The saying that night brings counsel is often true to a very high degree.
1967 N. Freeling Strike Out 184 ‘Home you go, boy. Night brings counsel.’..Night did bring counsel. Or rather Verbiest, the young inspector, brought it.
2. figurative and in figurative contexts. A condition or period reminiscent of night or the darkness of night; death. Also: mental anguish or gloom; spiritual or moral darkness. Cf. dark night at dark adj. Phrases 2.In early use frequently contrasted with day or light.
ΚΠ
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: John ix. 4 Me oportet operari opera eius qui misit me donec dies est uenit nox quando nemo potest operari : me gedæfnað..þæt ic geuyrco uoerca his seðe sende mec ða huile is dæge cymeð næht ðonne..nænigmonn mæge gewyrca.
c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 68 Nis hit na swa þeah swa we on ðare swarte nihte ure life adreoȝon, buton Cristes lihte.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1904 Crist ras upp..Forr dæþess nahht to wannsenn.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 89 God ledde hem fro helle nigt.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) 1 Thess. v. 5 Alle ȝe ben the sones of lyȝt..we ben not of nyȝt.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 3560 Þe man þat sua wit eld es dight His dai es turned him to night.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 5354 As soone as Poverte gynneth take, With mantel and wedis blake Hidith of love the light awey, That into nyght it turneth day.
c1450 tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Lyfe Manhode (Cambr.) (1869) 56 (MED) The virgine marie..bar hire fader, that is..the charbuncle glisteringe that elumineth the niht of the world.
?a1475 (a1396) W. Hilton Scale of Perfection (Harl. 6579) i. ix. f. 5v (MED) Mi niȝst is my liȝst in my delicis.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II iii. ii. 214 Let them hence away, From Richards night, to Bullingbrookes faire day. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) v. i. 316 Yet hath my night of life some memorie: My wasting lampes some fading glimmer left. View more context for this quotation
a1658 R. Lovelace Poems (1659) 9 Some Ethiopian Queen,..Whose ugly Night seem'd masked with days Skreen.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 326 Dido..clos'd her Lids at last, in endless Night.
1721 J. Hughes Siege Damascus (ed. 2) v. ii. 67 Look, how he bleeds! Let's lay him gently down: Night gathers fast upon him.
1782 J. Priestley Hist. Corruptions Christianity I. Pref. 5 Night..has for many centuries obscured our holy religion.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Arethusa in Posthumous Poems (1824) 159 Where the shadowy waves Are as green as the forest's night.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess iv. 89 Robed in the long night of her deep hair.
1875 W. Morris tr. Virgil Æneids xii. 14 I this Dardan thing will send adown to night.
1928 H. H. Henson Jrnl. 25 July in Retrospect II. xvi. 209 The sand in the hour-glass is running out, and..one has but a short time, at most, perhaps, ten years, before the night.
1963 M. L. King Strength to Love viii. 60 It was a joyous daybreak that had come to end the long night of their captivity.
1994 I. Welsh Acid House 240 I think I'll stick to drugs to get me through the long, dark night of late capitalism.
3. The time at which darkness comes on; the close or end of daylight; nightfall.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > day or daytime > evening > [noun] > twilight, dusk, or nightfall
nighteOE
evengloamOE
eveningOE
gloamingc1000
darknessa1382
twilighting1387
crepusculum1398
crepusculec1400
darkc1400
twilight1412
sky1515
twinlightc1532
day-going?1552
cockshut1592
shutting1598
blind man's holiday1599
candle-lighting1605
gropsing1606
nightfall1612
dusk1622
torchlighta1656
candlelight1663
crepuscle1665
shut1667
mock-shade1669
close1696
duskish1696
glooma1699
setting1699
dimmit1746
to-fall of the day or night1748
darklins1767
even-close1781
mirkning1790
gloaming-shot1793
darkening1814
bat-flying time1818
gloama1821
between-light1821
settle1822
dayfall1823
evenfall1825
onfall1825
owl-hoot1832
glooming1842
darkfall1884
smokefall1936
dusk-light1937
eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 871 Onfeohtende wæron oþ niht.
eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) ii. v. 47 He þonan afor & his fierd gelædde on an oþer fæstre land, & þær gewunedon oþ niht.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 1680 Þat com to þere nihte Þat lengre heo ne mihten.
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 2669 (MED) So was bi-twenen hem a fiht, Fro þe morwen ner to þe niht.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 770 (MED) Whan it neiȝed niȝt, noyȝed was he sore.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 484 (MED) Ho [sc. the dove] skyrmez under skwe and skowtez aboute Tyl hit watz nyȝe at þe naȝt.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 2669 (MED) At morne, when þou sese lyght, Thynk als þou sal dygh ar nyght.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) i. l. 255 Ȝhit this gud wiff held Wallace till the nycht.
1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 292 The Hawke will sniffe often, and shet her eyes towards night.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 276 Since night, you lou'd mee; yet since night, you left mee. View more context for this quotation
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. x. 45 Mercury,..being born in the morning,..had invented Musique at noon, and before night, stolne away the Cattell of Apollo.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd ii. 260 It was the hour of night, when thus the Son Commun'd in silent walk. View more context for this quotation
1706 N. Rowe Ulysses iv. i Twice have I sought since Night To pass in private.
a1774 O. Goldsmith tr. P. Scarron Comic Romance (1775) II. vi. 58 We travelled till night, and afterwards having gone a great deal more ground [etc.].
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. at Dog, Sea-dog If this [meteor] be seen before sunrise, it is believed that..it will bark before night; if after sunset, that it will bark before morning.
1869 ‘M. Twain’ Innocents Abroad xliv. 458 One can get into any walled city of Syria, after night, for bucksheesh, except Damascus.
1909 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Avonlea xviii. 204 What if the Copp girls don't come home until after night..or till to-morrow?
1989 S. Drache Ritual Slaughter i. vii. 51 This cloth, if possible, should remain there until night.
II. As a period, interval, or unit of time.
4. Any of the intervals of darkness between consecutive days, esp. when spent asleep. Also: any period of time stretching from late afternoon to bedtime; an evening.
a. With a numeral or with many, etc., to measure duration or lapse of time; spec. (a) denoting a continuous period of time containing the specified number of nights; (b) —— days and —— nights (also —— nights and —— days): denoting a continuous period of time containing the specified number of days and nights.In Old English and frequently in Middle English with unmarked plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun] > marking lapse of time
nighteOE
eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 871 Þæs ymb iii niht ridon ii eorlas up.
OE Cynewulf Crist II 540 Bidon ealle þær þegnas þrymfulle þeodnes gehata in þære torhtan byrig tyn niht.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1004 Se here com þa to Þeodforda..& þær binnon ane niht wæron.
c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 166 Ða embe six niht æfter þan þe Crist heom þas word sæde, he nom mid him þa his þreo leorningcnihtæs.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 4506 Næuede heo bute þreo nihte feorst faren þat heo scolde.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 15512 Fulle þreo nihten [c1300 Otho nihtes] heore craftes heo dihten.
?1316 Short Metrical Chron. (Royal) 157 in J. Ritson Anc. Eng. Metrical Romanceës (1802) II. 276 (MED) Ther spac an ern prophecie, Thre dawes and thre nyht.
c1390 (?c1350) Joseph of Arimathie (1871) l. 6 (MED) Me þinkeþ but þreo niȝt al þis ilke þrowe.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 12926 (MED) Iesus..fasted..Fourti night and fourti dais.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 14941 Sex niȝtes be-fore pask-day.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) iv. 588 Ek wonder last but nyne nyght nevere in towne.
1485 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) iv. xxvi. sig. hv Within seuen nyghtes his damoysel brought hym to an erles place.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 153 (MED) Nero..makyd the Cite of Rome afyre to sette, and Sewyn dayes and Sewyn nyghtes to brente.
1531 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. ix. ii, in R. W. Chambers & E. C. Batho Chronicles of Scotl. (1938) i. 357 Ane fyry comete was sene mony nychtis with lang bemys.
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing ii. iii. 17 Now wil he lie ten nights awake caruing the fashion of a new dublet. View more context for this quotation
1623 J. Webster Dutchesse of Malfy v. ii. sig. M2 Two of her yong children, foure nights since Were strangled.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 63 The space of seven continu'd Nights he rode. View more context for this quotation
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey II. vi. 205 Twice ten tempestuous nights I roll'd.
1774 J. Woolman Jrnl. I. 304 I went to his house and the next day home, where I tarried two nights.
1798 J. Austen Let. 18 Dec. (1995) 26 Your scheme..(which you communicated to me a few nights ago).
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna xii. xxxviii. 269 Three days and nights we sailed.
1844 E. B. Barrett Duchess May in Poems II. 66 And the castle, seethed in blood, fourteen days and nights had stood.
1891 Daily News 3 Mar. 3/1 A man was almost always five nights in bed before being called upon to spend a night out.
1932 G. Greene Stamboul Train i. i. 4 Three nights in a train. It's no joke.
1952 Life 17 Nov. 105 (caption) Night and day for 19 days and 18 nights, six Studebakers traveled around the famous old Atlantic City board track in 1928.
1991 Daily Tel. 5 Jan. (Weekend Suppl.) 12/1 Some of those booking at the last minute had paid as little as £99 for eight nights' b & b and an evening meal in Zakopane.
b. Such an interval denoting a particular occasion or point of time.Frequently with modifying word to indicate the evening or night of a special date or occasion. For ball, Midsummer, wedding night, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun] > marking an occasion or point in time
nighteOE
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) i. xxxii. 90 Æghwelce niht ofer his byrgenne heofonlic leoht wæs æteawed.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1110 On þære fiftan nihte on Maies monðe, ætywde se mona on æfen beorhte scinende.
c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 2 Ða on þare forme nihte þe he þær ræste..wurden iwæxene ðreo ȝyrden.
a1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 20 (MED) Þu salt ben idemet in þisse þridde nicste.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3142 Ðe tende dai it sulde ben lagt, And hoden in ðe tende nagt.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. 2656 (MED) This yonge lord..upon the same niht That thei amorwe trete scholde, Unto his Bacheler he tolde His conseil.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 2712 Þe trinite he sagh... And gestend þam wit him þat night.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 1084 (MED) Þe same niȝt in his slepe Seraphis aperis.
a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) 3551 (MED) Þe firste night he ȝeueþ blethly Leue to anoþer man to ligge hir by.
c1480 (a1400) St. John Baptist 1168 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 256 Þare þai wak þat nicht for sancte Ihonis sak.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 149 Off Februar the fyiftene nycht..I lay in till a trance.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 207 Wherefore he came on a night and declared all this to the Queene.
1653 tr. F. Carmeni Nissena 39 Who by reason of his last nights waking..had a very sore fit of a Feaver.
1700 F. Evans Diary (Worcs. Hist. Soc.) 19 My Ld went to Browsgrove..and returned that nightto Hartlebury.
1754 Med. Observ. & Inquiries (1776) I. v. 37 The blisters which had been laid above her ancles the night before.
a1781 R. Watson Hist. Reign Philip III (1783) i. 46 Albert..arrived on the same night at Bruges.
1820 W. Irving Legend Sleepy Hollow in Sketch Bk. vi. 100 On returning one night from the neighbouring village of Sing-Sing, he had been overtaken by this midnight trooper.
1859 Harper's Mag. Feb. 290/1 Scarcely had the soldiers rested from the extraordinary fatigues of crossing the Delaware on Christmas night.
1890 Law Times Rep. 63 765/1 The defendant only intended to represent the play on two nights.
1922 V. Woolf Jacob's Room vi. 120 Some Roman bust blackened and reddened to represent Guy Fawkes, whose night it was.
1951 N. Monsarrat Cruel Sea (1953) i. vi. 32 You've quite enough to do without sleeping ashore every other night, and coming back clapped out.
2001 N.Y. Mag. 30 July 40/1 On Monday nights..frozen margies are two for the price of one.
c. Such an interval considered as a division or period of time.Frequently with modifying word designating the season or time of year, kind of weather prevailing, or other natural features.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun] > as a division or period of time
nightOE
sleep1131
OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Cambr. Univ. Libr.) i. Introd. 26 Ðis ealond..leohte nihte on sumera hafað... Is on ðon sweotol, ðæt þis ealond hafað mycele lengran dagas on sumera, & swa eac nihta on wintra, þonne ða suðdælas middangeardes.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1901 Marrchess nahhtess wannsenn aȝȝ.
a1300 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Jesus Oxf.) (1935) 523 (MED) Hwenne nyhtes cumeþ longe & bryngeþ forstes starke & stronge.
c1300 Body & Soul (Laud Misc. 108) (1889) 25 (MED) Als i lay in a winteris nyt..i sauȝ a selly syt.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 8684 With myche dole vppon dayes & on derke nightes, Sum walt into wodenes.
a1568 R. Sempill in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. 392 In moneless nichtis it is na mowis.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iv. ii. 136 It hath bin the longest night That ere I watch'd. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 680 Else had the Spring Perpetual smil'd..Equal in Days and Nights . View more context for this quotation
1715 tr. D. Gregory Elements Astron. I. i. §33. 64 To explain the variety of the Days and Nights, and the Seasons of the Year thence arising.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones V. xv. iii. 214 After a long Conflict which lasted a whole Night between Honour and Appetite, the former..prevailed. View more context for this quotation
1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto I cxxxv. 70 'Twas, as the watchmen say, a cloudy night.
1866 Chambers's Encycl. III. 86/2 Summer and autumn nights are freest of clouds.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 102 To my taste there is nothing so fascinating as spending a night out in an African forest.
1934 J. B. Priestley Eng. Journey ii. 42 Out I went, to see how the people who build the best locomotives in the world enjoy themselves on a damp night in early autumn.
1967 D. C. Cooke C/o Amer. Embassy (1968) xi. 104 I've been on the horn half the night trying to get you.
1991 G. Ehrlich Islands, Universe, Home vi. 71 The nights have turned cold.
d. Such an interval viewed as an experience, esp. one characterized by the quality of rest or entertainment involved. Cf. sense A. 5b.With modifying word designating the nature of the experience.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun] > particular night on which one does something > the kind of night one has had
nightc1450
night1623
c1450 (?a1370) Wynnere & Wastoure (1990) l. 364 I herd in a haule of a herdmans tong, ‘Better were meles many þan a mery nyghte.’
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) sig. Aijv He callit on Gyliane his wyfe thair Supper to dicht Of the best that thair is help that we had Efter ane euill day to haue ane mirrie nicht.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. iv. 2 Oh I haue past a miserable night, So full of vgly sights. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 31 Such night till this I never pass'd. View more context for this quotation
a1701 H. Maundrell Journey Aleppo to Jerusalem (1703) 21 A restless night, in a marshy and unwholsome ground.
1775 Med. Observ. & Inquiries (1784) VI. v. 38 I afterwards passed..a good night.
1792 H. Cowley Day in Turkey iii. 30 Azim.: It must have been very pleasant. A la Gr.: O, a pleasant night as could be.
1852 Illustr. London News 18 Sept. 224/3 Long shall we all remember the pleasant night we passed.
1894 Lancet 3 Nov. 1027 He had a very good night.
a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. v. 132 Saturday night came round again—swiftly despite long disheartening days, and wakeful awful nights.
1954 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 17 Apr. 44/1 Roseate spoonbills sail in for a quiet night on Hank's island.
2001 Courier Mag. (Aberystwyth Univ. Students' Union) Feb. 20/2 What a night. Ferry Corsten played a blinding trance set that had me going non-stop.
5. With a possessive adjective or genitive.
a. The particular evening on which a person engages in a (usually specified) activity; (formerly) esp. an evening on which a person hosts a reception (now rare).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun] > particular night on which one does something
night1525
1525 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 112 Personis..to be gottin amangis the haill toun, euerie ilk man his nycht about.
1760 C. Johnstone Chrysal II. i. i. 7 The footman answered, that it was not his lady's night, and she was not at home.
1814 New Brit. Theatre I. 530 What glory might not any lady..acquire for herself were she..to succeed in getting up a Masque..on one of her nights.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xxiii. 221 Whenever the announce bills came out for her annual night.
1915 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Island xxvi. 222 Anne, this is certainly your night for looking handsome.
1967 O. Norton Now lying Dead iii. 54 Tuesdays he stays at home because that's Her night for her Old Time.
1990 C. Cookson Wingless Bird (BNC) It's Father's night for the club.
1993 F. Collymore RSVP to Mrs Bush-Hall 128 Her night of nights! That primary phase of her obligation as hostess accomplished, the reception of her guests, she..was contemplating with satisfaction the pulsating scene before her.
b. The kind of evening or night a person has spent or usually spends, with reference to the quality of rest obtained, the activity engaged in, etc. Cf. sense A. 4d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun] > particular night on which one does something > the kind of night one has had
nightc1450
night1623
1623 J. Webster Dutchesse of Malfy i. ii. sig. B4 That, sure her nights (nay more her very Sleepes) Are more in Heauen, then other Ladies Shrifts.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 93 Thus Eve her Night Related, and thus Adam answerd sad. View more context for this quotation
1776 S. Johnson Let. 21 Oct. (1992) II. 358 My nights are very restless and tiresome.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre III. ii. 61 My night was wretched, my rest broken.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles II. xxxiii. 162 Her night was a broken one..and she listened for the first faint noise overhead.
1914 S. Lewis Our Mr. Wrenn vii. 80 After his night of fear and tragic portents he resented..Mrs. Cattermole's establishment.
1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 31 I still felt tolerably spermy and Joycean after my night with Gloria.
1992 Independent 11 Dec. 13/6 Trevor pranged his car. (‘Sod it,’ he said, ‘that's my night ruined.’)
6. In phrases denoting an evening spent socializing or at leisure.
a. to make (also have) a night of (also †on) it: to socialize or enjoy oneself late into the night. Cf. make v.1 12b.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > a merrymaking or convivial occasion > merrymaking or conviviality > make merry [verb (intransitive)] > noisy or riotous > spend night in
to make (also have) a night of (also on) it1602
Saturday-night1933
1602 Twelfth Night Merriment (1893) 4 Youle make as good a night of it heere as if you had beene at all the houses in the towne.
1625 J. Fletcher Love's Cure iii. iv. 38 Faith let's make a Night on't.
1693 W. Congreve Old Batchelour iv. iii. 35 I'm resolv'd to make a Night on't.
1701 C. Cibber Love makes Man i. 8 Well! And didst thou make a Night on't, Boy?
1794 R. B. Sheridan Duenna (new ed.) iii. 54 I' faith, we'll have a night of it.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas II. iv. vi. 134 He is going to make a night of it.
1874 A. H. Markham Whaling Cruise 112 In whaling parlance, a ‘mollie’ means having a night of it.
1885 Cent. Mag. 30 393/2 Friends and neighbours also made a day of it, and then also a night of it, in honour of the departed.
1938 R. Finlayson Brown Man's Burden 44 It was taken for granted now that they would make a night of it. Work was forgotten.
1980 B. Bainbridge Winter Garden viii. 55 ‘Made a night of it, did you?’ ‘Yes,..we did have a few drinks.’
b. the night is young: it is still early (in the evening). Cf. young adj. 6d.
ΚΠ
1631 T. May Antigone iii. sig. C3v My feares haue brought me early to this place. The night is young; No watches yet are set.
1767 H. Hartson Countess of Salisbury iv. 58 The night is over young; The castle's yet awake, and wou'd but mock The attempt.
1858 J. Pilgrim Eveleen Wilson ii. iv. 20 The night is young; we will instantly to Dublin, and enlist the Pie-corner boys.
1884 W. Besant Dorothy Forster xi They..left the table when the night was yet young, and the bottle just beginning.
1905 E. Wallace Four Just Men viii. 153 The night being comparatively young, Billy decided to work the trams.
1978 A. Maupin Tales of City 277 I've got a brand new lid, and the night is young. Will you join me?
1995 C. Higson Full Whack (1996) iv. 25 The crystal moment. When the drinks are starting to kick in and the night is young.
c. night off: an evening or night free from work or from a person's usual duties.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > [noun] > a period of > day or night
holidaya1400
play-day1558
playing day1575
non Le1636
whole holiday1753
rest day1800
Sunday out1837
day off1853
evening out1870
stop-day1879
night off1885
night out1890
off1926
1885 A. Daly in A. Nicoll Hist. Eng. Drama 1660–1900 (1959) V. 333 (title of play) A night off; or, a page from Balzac.
1915 A. Conan Doyle Valley of Fear ii. vii. 291 If I were you..I would take a night off and keep clear of it.
1947 N. Cardus Autobiogr. 277 Whenever his ‘night off’ occurred he bought a ticket.
1988 S. Meredeen Study for Survival & Success (BNC) 43 Reward yourself in some way (a cup of tea/coffee, or even a night off).
2001 Mirror (Electronic ed.) 12 July Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams had earlier taken a night off to speak at a London rally.
d. night out: (originally) the evening on which a domestic servant was free to go out; (later) an evening spent away from home in social or leisure pursuits. Cf. out adv. 15b.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > [noun] > a period of > day or night
holidaya1400
play-day1558
playing day1575
non Le1636
whole holiday1753
rest day1800
Sunday out1837
day off1853
evening out1870
stop-day1879
night off1885
night out1890
off1926
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > nightlife > [noun]
twilight world1887
night out1890
nightlife1913
nightclubbing1925
night scene1992
1890 W. Booth In Darkest Eng. ii. v. 190 The weekly Church service or ‘night out’ with nowhere to go.
1908 G. Sanger 70 Years a Showman ix. 30 For these people Lansdown Fair was, as they put it, their ‘night out’.
1916 E. V. Lucas Vermilion Box 129 We have the pictures here, of course, and I go there regularly on my night out.
1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Sat. xix. 152 ‘I'm staying late tonight.’ ‘Then we can't have our night out,’ she cried.
2000 J. Goodwin Danny Boy v. 118 What you see is what you get. A big, strong, hard lad. A sound mate and a good laugh on a night out.
7.
a. Originally: an evening devoted to a musical or theatrical performance (frequently involving a specified composer or artist), or to celebrations in honour of a particular person. In later use also: an evening devoted to a specified social or leisure activity.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > [noun] > a performance > night of performance
night1707
opening nightc1814
command-night1826
1707 Muses Mercury Jan. 4 This Prologue was forbidden to be spoken the second Night of the Representation of the Prophetess.
1784 in C. B. Hogan London Stage 1660–1800 (1968) v. 760 Il Curioso Indiscreto... This Night, the last of performing before the Holidays, will not be counted a Subscription Night, but the Tickets admitted as usual.
1842 C. Dickens Let. 12 Nov. (1974) III. 368 Mrs. Dickens begs me..to say that if you can oblige her with your box at Covent Garden on any of Miss Kemble's nights, she will be very thankful.
1847 Punch 13 60 (caption) Melancholy scene at the opera on a Jenny Lind night.
1861 ‘G. Eliot’ Let. 6 Oct. (1954) III. 456 We are enjoying a great, great pleasure—a new grand piano; and last evening we had a Beethoven night.
1905 Baroness Orczy Scarlet Pimpernel x. 90 It was one of the gala nights at Covent Garden Theatre.
1977 Freemantle (Austral.) Gaz. 1 Apr. 3/2 A Quiz Night has been organized for July 19th.
1984 L. Rooke Bolt White Cloth 99 We can have a Parcheesie Night, a Scrabble Night, a Monopoly Night, maybe even a Strip-Poker Night.
1991 Arias 46/1 One of the most cherished traditions..is the underwriting of one night of opera at the O'Keefe Centre.
b. the night: the first occasion on which a play or other entertainment is publicly performed. Frequently in phrases expressing optimism about a forthcoming performance when problems are encountered during rehearsal, as (it will be) all right on the night. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > optimism > expression of optimism [phrase]
never feara1593
silver lininga1616
(it will be) all right on the night1908
1908 E. Terry Story of my Life xiv. 349 Poor Mr. Rothenstein was much worried over his lithograph, yet ‘it was all right on the night’, as actors say.
1911 O. Onions Widdershins 26 I've not got on very well with it. But it will be all right on the night, as you used to say.
1938 R. G. Collingwood Princ. Art xiv. 322 In the rehearsal of any given passage..the actors may move and speak exactly as they will ‘on the night’.
1949 Economist 23 July 172 The hope that the Atlantic Pact would ‘turn out all right on the night’.
1973 E. Lemarchand Let or Hindrance xiii. 165 Penny may fly off the handle, but she's always all right on the night.
1990 Amateur Stage Sept. 2/2 (advt.) Eliminate the problem of promising rehearsals turning into shows that are not ‘all right on the night’.
8.
a. A period of work carried out during the evening or night.
ΚΠ
1803 Naval Chron. 15 154 The extra [working-time] was divided into nights and tides:—a night consisted of five hours, and a tide of an hour and an half.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 259/2 It's about 6d. a night to me for singing and patter in the tap-room. That's my cokum (advantage).
1890 Chambers's Jrnl. 5 July 423/1 The fog-signalmen..are often called out for a night's ‘fogging’ just as they have finished a hard day's work.
1936 Metronome Feb. 21/4 Peanuts, any pay from a nickel a night and down.
1989 Jerusalem Post 24 May 9/5 Dish washers earn NIS [= New Israeli Shekel] 30 (plus a meal) for an eight-hour night.
2000 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 1 Mar. 23 When Mark Elder refused to play the ‘jingoistic’ Rule, Britannia!..he risked nothing more than losing a night's wage.
b. Chiefly colloquial. to do nights: to work the night shift. on nights: on the night shift. Cf. nights adv.
ΚΠ
1914 S. Lewis Our Mr. Wrenn xiii. 170 I gotta get down to the store—cigar-store. I'm on nights, three times a week.
1957 E. Midland Historian 7 33/1 I was on nights for two years because it was more money.
1998 Mirror (Electronic ed.) 18 June I don't do nights now although I have for the last five years.
2001 Western Daily Press (Electronic ed.) 20 Mar. Doing nights, you didn't feel part of the team.
B. int.
Also 'night. ‘Good night’. Cf. night-night int.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > courteous act or expression > courteous expressions [interjection] > expressions of farewell > at night
lullaby1599
night-night1866
nighty-nighty1876
nighty-night1888
night1912
1912 C. E. Mulford & J. W. Clay Buck Peters, Ranchman viii. 125 ‘Good-night. I'm goin' to roost.’ ‘Night, Dave.’
1933 A. Thirkell High Rising vii. 151 ‘Good night. We're going to bed now.’ ‘Night,’ said Stoker.
1967 K. Giles Death & Mr. Prettyman i. 21 ‘Seven ack emma [sc. a.m.] tomorrow if you can manage.’ ‘Night, sir.’ Honeybody lumbered off.
1974 R. Ingalls Man who was left Behind 116 ‘Night all,’ he said.
1991 M. S. Power Come the Executioner (1992) xviii. 239 ‘'Night.’ ‘'Night.’ It was cold in the bedroom.

Phrases

P1. In adverbial phrases.
a.
(a) night and day: by night and by day; continually, constantly, incessantly. Cf. day and night at day n. Phrases 6c(a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > continuing > continually (in action) [phrase]
night and dayeOE
day and nightOE
without(en) blina1300
morning, noon, and nightc1325
but stintc1330
by and byc1330
early and latec1330
without ceasec1330
without ceasinga1340
withouten hoc1374
without releasec1400
still opece1422
in a ranec1480
never ceasable?1518
without remorse1555
every foot (and anon)1561
round1652
year in and year out1819
twenty-four hours a day1914
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter: Canticles & Hymns (1965) viii. 6 (71) Benedicite noctes et dies dominum : bledsiað naeht & deg dryhten.
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Mark v. 5 Semper nocte ac die in monumentis et in montibus erat : symle næht & dæge [OE Rushw. on næht & on dæge] in byrgennum uel in fæstnungum & morum wæs.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 4694 Beo þu ȝeornfull nihht & daȝȝ To follȝhenn godess wille.
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 14 (MED) Te alde feond..scheoteð niht & dei his earewen..towart tin heorte.
?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 91 (MED) Niȝt and dai hi libbiþ in sore.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 1839 Bot nyht and day as I am now I schal alwey be such to yow.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 10421 (MED) Sco..Weped and mornd night and dai.
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 164 He puttis..gude wache and warde apon him nycht and day.
1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. eijv Thynke what I say, my sonne, nyght and day.
?1515 Hyckescorner (de Worde) sig. A.iiv I euer with them went..Nyght & daye towarde the waye of ryghtwysenes.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney tr. Psalmes David (1823) i. i He blessed is who..night and day..calls..[God's law] to marking mind.
1601 Dundee Shipping Papers in Misc. Sc. Hist. Soc. X. 70 That hellpit to keep the schip naycht and day.
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Tim. i. 3 I haue remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day . View more context for this quotation
c1650 J. Spalding Memorialls Trubles Scotl. & Eng. (1850) I. 277 Letteris, nicht and day, cuming fra the prouest and balleis of Abirdein.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 233 I sat and cried and tormented my self Night and Day.
1788 T. Jefferson Jrnl. 11 Apr. in Papers (1956) XIII. 19 The floats of wood which go with the current only, go 1½ mile an hour. They go night and day.
1828 D. M. Moir Life Mansie Wauch xxii. 336 Maybe..rowing night and day..[he] got home in a safe skin.
1854 H. D. Thoreau Walden 213 These..are my water privileges; and night and day, year in year out, they grind such grist as I carry to them.
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xxii. 340 Night and day, too, the telegraph clicked with disastrous news and anxious inquiry.
1932 C. Porter Night & Day (song) 6 Night and day, under the hide of me, There's an oh, such a hungry yearning burning inside of me.
1962 V. Grissom in J. Glenn et al. Into Orbit 119 We were working all around the clock during this period, running tests night and day.
1991 S. Cisneros Woman Hollering Creek 142 Eddie, who taught me how to salsa, who lectured me night and day about human rights in Guatemala, El Salvador, Chile, Argentina.
(b) night or day: by night or by day; at any time. Also night nor (also ne) day: neither by night nor day; not at any time.Earliest in negative constructions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > [adverb]
night nor (also ne) daya1225
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 31 (MED) Ne swic ðu naure niht ne dai ær ðu hes habbe.
c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 1823 Ye shal..swere That neuere mo ye shal my contree dere Ne make werre vpon me nyght nor day.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 19715 Þair redis..gun þai rune, wid all þe kepers of þat tune, Night or day to waite þe time Quen þai might cum to murder him.
c1450 in E. P. Hammond Eng. Verse between Chaucer & Surrey (1927) 211 My trouble..Repeyreth ay which nyght nor day ne cesseth nought.
a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) 8899 (MED) She shal fonde night or day To shorte þi daies if she may.
1599 R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) II. ii. 108 Hee..for eight dayes space neither night nor day tooke any naturall rest, and so at length died for lacke of sleepe.
1611 Bible (King James) Esther iv. 16 Fast yee for me, and neither eate nor drinke three dayes, night or day . View more context for this quotation
1707 J. Freind Acct. Earl of Peterborow's Conduct in Spain 205 My Lord never rested night or day, till he came to Tortosa.
1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherdess i. 248 They've gotten a geet that stills na night nor day.
1845 C. Darwin Jrnl. (ed. 2) x. 213 Whenever it is low water, winter or summer, night or day, they must rise to pick shellfish from the rocks.
1863 P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 189 Ankle chains..riveted together,..never to be unloosened night nor day.
1889 ‘M. Twain’ Connecticut Yankee xxi. 265 The prayers..and the lamentations in sackcloth and ashes, and the holy processions, none of these have ceased nor night nor day.
1939 Fortune Nov. 5 (advt.) In this new ‘Controlled Conditions’ plant, night or day..every day is like that ‘rare day in June’.
1993 N.Y. Times 5 Sept. v. 19/2 It never stopped raining night or day.
(c) the night: (a) Scottish, English regional (northern), and Irish English (northern), tonight; †(b) during the night, by night (also in plural) (obsolete).
ΚΠ
c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) 7576 Hine bi-wakede þare niht twenti hundred cnihtes.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vii. l. 551 Ȝour selff sall fyrst his blyssyng tak for me, For sekyrly ȝe seruit it best the nycht.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III iv. iv. 118 Forbeare to sleepe the nights, and fast the daies. View more context for this quotation
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. iii. 254 Haue you a ruffin that will sweare... Reuell the night . View more context for this quotation
?c1625 in E. Beveridge & J. D. Westwood Fergusson's Sc. Prov. (1924) No. 921 Kisse me the night I wil ryd the morne.
1802 in W. Scott Minstrelsy Sc. Border II. 154 Yestreen the queen had four Maries, The night she'll hae but three.
1826 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xxv, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 493 Arena ye..sair caulded the nicht? for you're hoarse and husky.
1885 F. J. Child Clerk Saunders in Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads III. 160 We hae but ae sister, And behad, she's lying wi you the night.
1924 J. H. Bone Crystal Set 11 I'm late the nicht, guid wife.
1965 B. Friel Philadelphia, Here I Come! 75 Joe. I don't think I'm in form the night, boys.
1977 G. Todd Geordie Words & Phrases Neet, it's a caad neet the neet.
1998 A. Warner Sopranos 7 We'll test it out the night girls!
b.
(a) all (the) night: throughout the night.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adverb] > through or during the night
all (the) nighteOE
night-longsOE
night-longc1300
(all) the long nightc1380
overnight1381
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) lxxvii. 16 (14) Eduxit eos in nube diei et tota nocte in inluminatione ignis : utalædde hie in wolcne deges & alle naeht in inlihtnisse fyres.
OE Recipe (Vitell. C.iii) in T. O. Cockayne Leechdoms, Wortcunning, & Starcraft (1864) I. 378 Leg siððen þæt wyrt swa wærm abutan þæt heafod & wrið mid claðe, & læt swa beon ealla niht.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14626 Þa burh born alle niht.
a1300 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Vitell.) (1966) 327 (MED) Heo haueþ iwaked al niȝht.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1969) Isa. lxii. 6 Vp on þi wallis ierusalem I sette keperes al dai & al nyȝt; euermor þei shul not ben stille.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 1002 Þat alle naȝt [so] much niye hade no mon in his hert.
c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 32 (MED) Aftir refetyng of mete and drink, he..sleped wele all þe niȝt.
a1475 Bk. Curtasye (Sloane 1986) l. 505 in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 315 A morter of wax ȝet wille he bryng..Þat alle nyȝt brennes in bassyn clere.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Gen. xix. A Turne in..in to youre seruauntes house, and tarye all night.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 603 She all night long her amorous descant sung. View more context for this quotation
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 184 Having lain Awake almost all Night, I was very sleepy.
1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 6 He sat all night apart from the company.
1897 B. Stoker Dracula xxvii. 374 It is morning, and I write by a fire which all the night I have kept alive.
1956 S. Selvon Lonely Londoners (1995) 121 Back home, they have non-stop dance, you dance till you fall down on the ground... Why the arse London Transport can't run bus and tube all night for people to go home?
2001 Independent 3 Feb. (Weekend Review section) 8/6 They stay up all night, watching silly films and hooting with laughter.
(b) (all) the long night: throughout the night, for the whole of the night. Cf. the livelong night at livelong adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adverb] > through or during the night
all (the) nighteOE
night-longsOE
night-longc1300
(all) the long nightc1380
overnight1381
c1380 G. Chaucer Second Nun's Tale 519 The [v.r. Al þe] longe nyght and eek a day also..She sat al coold.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 807 (MED) Þay wolde lenge þe long naȝt.
c1450 (c1375) G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite 333 The longe nyght this wonder sight I drye.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 36 But turne round about the pole, all the longe nyght.
a1700 J. Dryden in Wks. (1884) IX. 160 All the long night he studies their relief.
1704 J. Addison tr. Ovid Met., Phaeton's Sisters 31 All the long night their mournful watch they keep, And all the day stand round the tomb and weep.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey in Iliad & Odyssey II. vii. 357 There, under wither'd leaves, forlorn, I slept All the long night.
1806 M. Robinson Sicilian Lover ii. viii. 299 Where's my son? All the long night I watch'd for his return.
1905 Polit. Sci. Q. 20 192 Fifteen thousand men and women had remained steadfastly in the uncomfortable seats and the vitiated atmosphere of a veritable fire-trap all the long night.
1989 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 25 July 3 d A crew has to keep the firewood burning and the pig turning the whole time, including all the long night.
P2. In prepositional phrases.See also overnight adv., tonight adv.
a.
†(a) on night = by night at Phrases 2a(b). Cf. a-night adv. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adverb]
nightseOE
on nightOE
in (also of, on, upon) the nightOE
by nightlOE
on (also in) nightslOE
a-nightc1175
a-nightsc1175
at nightc1300
within nightc1400
a-nightertime?a1439
a nighttimes1567
at nights1581
nightly1597
benight1642
nocturnally1812
night-times1851
nitely1970
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xxviii. 13 Dicentes dicite quia discipuli eius nocte uenerunt : cueðende cuoðað gie þætte ðegnas his on næht cuomun.
OE Ælfric De Temporibus Anni (Cambr. Gg.3.28) iii. §15. 24 Steorran æteowiað swylce on nihte.
OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) lxi. 104 Ðeos wyrt scineð on nihte swilce steorra on heofone.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1781 Laban..on nigt Wente a-gen-ward or it was ligt.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 2973 Bot godd on night com to þe king, In slepe.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl 243 Art þou my perle þat I haf playned, Regretted by myn one, on nyȝte?
a1475 Bk. Curtasye (Sloane 1986) l. 506 in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 315 To saue þo chambur on nyȝt for fyre.
c1480 (a1400) St. Bartholomew 60 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 181 A hundre syis one day kneland, & als of[t] one nychte prayand.
1567 R. Sempill Deeclaratioun Lordis Iust Quarrell (single sheet) Bludy boucheouris and throtcutters on nycht.
1568 (a1508) W. Kennedy Flyting (Bannatyne) in Poems W. Dunbar (1998) I. 210 That cumis on nycht in visioun in my sleip.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) v. i. 211 Nere may I looke on day, nor sleepe on night . View more context for this quotation
(b) by night: during the night, in the night-time. by night and (by) day: always, at all times. by night or day: at any time. See by prep. 19b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adverb]
nightseOE
on nightOE
in (also of, on, upon) the nightOE
by nightlOE
on (also in) nightslOE
a-nightc1175
a-nightsc1175
at nightc1300
within nightc1400
a-nightertime?a1439
a nighttimes1567
at nights1581
nightly1597
benight1642
nocturnally1812
night-times1851
nitely1970
the world > time > frequency > [adverb] > always or in every case
alwayeOE
aldayOE
everOE
by night and (by) daylOE
ayc1175
algatea1200
alwaysc1225
everylikec1225
stillc1297
evermorea1300
algatesa1325
alikec1330
early and latec1330
at all assaysc1360
universallya1398
likec1400
continuallyc1460
tidely1482
ay-whenc1485
from time to (formerly unto) timea1500
at all seasons1526
at once1563
at every turn1565
throughout1567
still still1592
still1594
still and anona1616
still an enda1616
every stitch-while1620
everlastingly1628
constantly1651
everywhen1655
eternally1670
allus1739
any day (of the week)1759
everly1808
allers1833
every time1854
toujours1902
all (the way) down the line1975
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1070 Yware..nam þa be nihte eall þet he mihte.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 19 Evchan segge hire vres..vtsong inwinter binachte [c1230 Corpus niht; a1400 Pepys niȝth].
a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 37 A welle he sekeð ðat springeð ai, Boðe bi niȝt & bi dai.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 52 (MED) Þet uolk..late louieþ to soupi and to waki be niȝte and wasteþ þane time ine ydelnesse.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Josh. ii. 2 Men been goon yn heder by nyȝt..for to aspie þe lond.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 6749 If..þe dede be don bi night, Þe smyter þan sal haue na plight.
1466 in J. T. Gilbert Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 325 For perayles that ben imynent of horsemen by nyght.
c1475 Mankind (1969) 769 (MED) Wyth wepynge terys be nyȝte and be day I wyll goo and neuer sesse.
1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII c. 20 Preamble Archbold with other xl. outlawes..come by night to..Penreth Cotes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iv. ii. 59 Time comes stealing on by night and day. View more context for this quotation
a1625 J. Fletcher Monsieur Thomas (1639) iv. vi. sig. K2v He walkes by day, so do's he by night.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 514 Jacob..Dreaming by night under the open Skie. View more context for this quotation
1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iv. x. 154 It was to be feared, I might..bring them in Troops by Night to destroy the..Cattle.
1770 O. Goldsmith Deserted Village 230 A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Homer's Hymn to Mercury lxxxii, in Posthumous Poems (1824) 322 A joy by night or day—for those endowed With art and wisdom.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick lxxxvii. 423 The endless procession of ships..which for centuries past, by night and by day, have passed between the islands.
1885 Law Times Rep. 53 53/2 A tow which is being towed with a long scope of hawser by night.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 957/2 A complete system of signalling by night and by day on the Morse system is worked by the police.
1938 Amer. Home Oct. 15/1 Lounge beds... By day..they are davenports. By night they become comfortable beds.
1977 W. S. Merwin Compass Flower i. 12 They resume their journey flying by night with the sound of blood rushing in an ear.
1991 J. Barth Last Voy. Somebody the Sailor 261 Which of this pair of prizes, in my judgement, would more likely so please him by night and by day as to cure his wanderlust?
(c) at night: at nightfall, in the evening or night; during the hours of darkness. Frequently designating a specified time.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adverb]
nightseOE
on nightOE
in (also of, on, upon) the nightOE
by nightlOE
on (also in) nightslOE
a-nightc1175
a-nightsc1175
at nightc1300
within nightc1400
a-nightertime?a1439
a nighttimes1567
at nights1581
nightly1597
benight1642
nocturnally1812
night-times1851
nitely1970
c1300 St. Theophilus (Laud) 161 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 293 (MED) Þis cas bi-feol in leinte on a satures-day at niȝt.
c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 23 At nyght was come..Wel nyne and twenty in a compaignye.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 3931 Iacob lay him stille atte naȝt.
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) 1407 What nwez so þay nome, at naȝt quen þay metten.
a1475 Bk. Curtasye (Sloane 1986) l. 487 in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 315 Þo lorde schalle skyft hys gown at nyȝt.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccccxix. 733 The wednisday at night that ye batayle was the next day.
1568 in R. Renwick Extracts Rec. Royal Burgh of Lanark (1893) 41 Quhill viij houris at nycht.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iii. i. 43 Let euery man be master of his time, Till seuen at Night . View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 130 They give their Bodies due repose at Night . View more context for this quotation
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 29 My Gentleman, he staid out as he told me he would, till late at Night.
1782 J. H. St. J. de Crèvecoeur Lett. from Amer. Farmer vi. 168 The shark..in spite of the people's endeavours, will share with them in their prey; at night particularly.
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist II. xxxiii. 219 At night Oliver read a chapter or two from the Bible.
1865 A. Trollope Can you forgive Her? II. iii. 15 Would it not even be better to be beaten by him than to have politics explained to her at one o'clock at night?
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker iv. 61 As I read myself to sleep at night.
1918 W. Cather My Ántonia i. xix. 157 The burning sun of those weeks, with occasional rains at night, secured the corn.
1955 R. S. Thomas Song at Year's Turning 21 And then at night see him fixed in his chair.
1987 C. Thubron Behind Wall ii. 61 By nine o'clock at night the city is already closing itself away.
(d) Chiefly colloquial. of a night: during the night, at night (esp. usually or habitually).
ΚΠ
1668 F. Kirkman Eng. Rogue II. xix. 171 For after he was once in his Chamber of a night, he seldom came out again to watch us.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. viii. ii. 155 I have had less Trouble, I warrant you, with a good Squire's Family, where we take forty or fifty Shillings of a Night, besides Horses. View more context for this quotation
1819 J. Keats Let. 16 Apr. (1958) II. 92 Do you put your hair in papers of a night?
1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations I. xii. 203 That ass, Pumblechook, used often to come over of a night for the purpose of discussing my prospects with my sister.
1906 J. Galsworthy Man of Prop. iii. iii. 305 Ask June whether she had worn night-socks up in those high hotels where it must be so cold of a night.
1947 D. M. Davin in N.Z. Short Stories (1953) 148 Frightful rows there used to be before she got used to him going out of a night. Mind you, he always took the bull-at-a-gate method.
1988 W. Berry Remembering iv. 62 Do you cry any of a night, son?
b. in (also †of, †on, †upon) the night: by night, during the night.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adverb]
nightseOE
on nightOE
in (also of, on, upon) the nightOE
by nightlOE
on (also in) nightslOE
a-nightc1175
a-nightsc1175
at nightc1300
within nightc1400
a-nightertime?a1439
a nighttimes1567
at nights1581
nightly1597
benight1642
nocturnally1812
night-times1851
nitely1970
OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Exod. (Claud.) xii. 12 Ic fare on ðære nihte ofer eall Egypta land.
c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 26 Ða on þære nihte com hire to godes engel.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 5601 Al makeden heore faren alse ha wolden a þare niht faren.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 611 (MED) Þis seknesse..takeþ me..ten times on þe niȝt.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 6196 Drightin self þam ledd þair wai... Wit firen piler on þe night [c1460 Laud vpon the nyȝt].
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 117 (MED) Þis charbuncle lightnez all þe chaumbre on þe nyght.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 115 (MED) He was tempid with grete ludificacions on þe nyght.
a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) in Centaurus (1968) 12 217 (MED) Þe sunne of his mighte Chaufeþ þe erthe vpon þe night.
c1480 (a1400) St. Theodora 288 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 107 To þat thing has he na sycht þat thocht or don is in þe nycht.
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. Ee.vijv She eateth her nothing on the dai nor slepeth in the nyght.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 162 When you will verifie your nedle.., you shall use the healpe of the Sunne (and on the night) of some fixed sterre.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 94 Thair heid..thay neuir couered in the nycht.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 253 There sleepes Tytania, sometime of the night . View more context for this quotation
1608 Inverurie Burgh Court 26 Apr. All hors..lying out wpone the nycht.
c1650 J. Spalding Memorialls Trubles Scotl. & Eng. (1850) I. 278 Monro causit big wp betuixt the crossis ane court de guard, for saifing of his soldiouris fra weit and cauld on the nicht.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. ii. 7 Such persons, as make use of such superstitious feare, to passe disguised in the night, to places they would not be known to haunt.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 70 He would have me go Home, and in the Night take away every thing I had in the House of any Value and secure it.
1785 T. Jefferson Notes Virginia vi. 131 Their eyes [sc. albinos'] are..very weak..but they see better in the night than we do.
1855 F. Wharton Criminal Law U.S. 598 The breaking and entering must be in the night.
1894 R. Kipling Jungle Bk. 44 The Rock-Snake..steals the young monkeys in the night.
1959 A. Nin Children of Albatross 48 In Donald's eyes shone the fever of futile watches in the night, intrigue, pursuits of the forbidden.
1990 N.Y. Mag. 30 Apr. 52/1 A dog howling in the night.
c.
†(a) on (also in) nights: by night, esp. usually or habitually. Cf. a-nights adv. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adverb]
nightseOE
on nightOE
in (also of, on, upon) the nightOE
by nightlOE
on (also in) nightslOE
a-nightc1175
a-nightsc1175
at nightc1300
within nightc1400
a-nightertime?a1439
a nighttimes1567
at nights1581
nightly1597
benight1642
nocturnally1812
night-times1851
nitely1970
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1127 Soðfestemen heom kepten on nihtes.
c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 3 (MED) Þe gost..dooþ hem seen on niȝttes [v.r. anyȝttes] þe spirites & þe priuetes of god.
c1400 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 488 (MED) Men mowe say þer Pater noster medefully under þo cope of heven, as Crist dide in þo hille in nyȝttus.
a1425 Dialogue Reason & Adversity (Cambr.) (1968) 31 (MED) Þe sonne cloþith þe eire on daies in his bemes, on nyghtes he hidiþ hem.
a1450 Rule St. Benet (Vesp.) (1902) 2016 (MED) Changing kirtils sal þai haue In nyghtes þer oþer forto saue.
1472 in J. Raine Vol. Eng. Misc. N. Counties Eng. (1890) 24 (MED) William, servaunt of Herry Couper, is a ryotter on nyghtes, sittyng up at uncovable tyme.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) vii. 506 Fra carleill all on nychtis ryde, And in covert on dayis byde.
a1500 Rule Minoresses in W. W. Seton Two 15th Cent. Franciscan Rules (1914) 84 Þey haue a blacke veyle I-spred aboue her hedis..wiþowte whiche þey schul mow be on nytes & some time on dayes bi licence of þe abbesse.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Fox, Wolf, & Cadger l. 2019 in Poems (1981) 78 I sall fulfill..ȝour bidding, Quhat euer ȝe charge on nichtis or on dayis.
?1710 Squire Bickerstaff Detected 5 A Pack of Rascals, that walk the Streets on Nights.
(b) by nights: during the nights; at night, esp. usually or habitually.
ΚΠ
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137 Þa namen hi þa men þe hi wenden ðæt ani god hefden, bathe be nihtes & be dæies.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1449 Ȝiff þu cwemesst tin drihhtin. Bi daȝȝess. & bi nihhtess.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 4415 He greiðede his cnihtes & feorh færde bi nihttes [c1300 Otho niþte].
?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. iv. pr. ii. 173 Ne these wrecches ne comen nat to the effect of sovereyn good, the whiche thei enforcen hem oonly to geten by nyghtes and by dayes.
a1500 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 43 (MED) God saue þis place fro alle oþer wykked wytes boþe be dayes & be nytes.
1584 T. Lodge Delect. Hist. Forbonius & Prisceria 30 Not waying of her many louing sightes, Her watrie eyes, her secret moane by nights.
1602 T. A. Massacre of Money sig. E4 Vice doth rule by day, Vertue by nights.
1638 R. Brathwait Psalmes of David v. 270 All ye..That servants in the Lords House be, before him stand by nights.
1685 W. Clark Grand Tryal ii. xv. 110 These shall be a simple Volary Where ill-presaging Owls by nights do cry.
1709 W. King Misc. Prose & Verse 251 Thou Goddess Famine, that canst send us Blights, With parching Heat by Day, and Storm by Nights.
1833 W. G. Simms Bk. my Lady 134 He pursued his way to his own nation in a sort of running march, resting by nights against a tree.
1854 H. Miller My Schools & Schoolmasters ix. 168 The many floating Highland stories of spectral dead-lights and wild supernatural sounds, seen and heard by nights in lonely places of sepulture.
1939 J. Joyce Finnegans Wake 15 And still nowanights and by nights of yore do all bold floras..say only: Cull me ere I wilt to thee!
(c) at nights: in the evenings; by night (esp. usually or habitually). Cf. Phrases 2a(c).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adverb]
nightseOE
on nightOE
in (also of, on, upon) the nightOE
by nightlOE
on (also in) nightslOE
a-nightc1175
a-nightsc1175
at nightc1300
within nightc1400
a-nightertime?a1439
a nighttimes1567
at nights1581
nightly1597
benight1642
nocturnally1812
night-times1851
nitely1970
1581 B. Rich Farewell Militarie Profession sig. Bb.jv At nightes she was lodged in her fathers Chamber.
1687 J. Aubrey in W. J. Thoms Anecd. & Trad. (1839) 115 They swept up the harth alwaies at nights, and did sett their shoes by the fire.
1693 tr. A. Bourignon in Coll. Mod. Relations Witches 29 This Love of hers had..carried her at Nights to the Witches Meetings in great Castles.
1720 Humourist 9 At Nights..they had the Shelter of a Barn.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §283 Having first established, that they should quit the work at nights.
1810 A. Cunningham et al. Remains Nithsdale & Galloway Song App. 334 (Jam.) [The Brownie] keeping the servants awake at nights with the noisy dirling of its elfin flail.
1864 A. Trollope Can you forgive Her? I. ii. 8 She..lived a hot, uncomfortable life, going about at nights to gatherings of fashionable people.
1883 J. W. Sherer At Home & in India 6 The stout, beaming man now appears quite distinctly—coming from somewhere at nights in a postchaise.
1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables ii. 18 I used to lie awake at nights and imagine things like that, because I didn't have time during the day.
1962 S. Wynter Hills of Hebron x. 128 At nights he heard the sea rushing up and down the long beach.
1996 Blueprint July 14/1 The area is deserted at nights and at weekends.
(d) o'nights = at nights at Phrases 2c(c). Now chiefly Scottish and archaic.
ΚΠ
1606 Wily Beguilde 21 Sheele run out of nights a dancing, and come no more home till day peepe.
1823 C. Lamb in London Mag. Dec. 615/1 I have nothing but water in my head o' nights since this frightful accident.
1851 N. Hawthorne House of Seven Gables xix. 312 He's a kind of person..that seldom breaks his habits, or stays out o'nights.
1895 T. Hardy Jude i. iii. 23 Yes, 'tis a serious-minded place. Not but there's wenches in the streets o' nights.
1902 J. Conrad Heart of Darkness i, in Youth 96 The pilgrims used to..empty every rifle they could lay hands on at him. Some had even sat up o' nights for him.
1925 Amer. Mercury May 109/2 If all Americans were like us, the spies of the Department of Justice could sleep easy o' nights.
1973 Stornoway Gaz. 2 June 4/3 Maybe you're sleeping soundly o' nights, dreaming of all your frisky lambs and ewes on the surging reseeds.
(e) of nights: = at nights at Phrases 2c(c). See of prep. 51b. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1606 Wily Beguilde 17 I will tell her that I do nothing of nights but sleepe and thinke on her.
1740 Ld. Chesterfield Lett. (1932) (modernized text) II. 443 [To] sleep sound of nights.
1823 C. Lamb Christ's Hosp. in Elia 38 Shut up by himself of nights.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick lxxiii. 362 He hasn't got any hammock; but I've seen him lay of nights in a coil of rigging.
1897 S. Baring-Gould Bladys xxvi I'm forced, when feeling timorsome of nights, to bolt my door.
a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) I. vii. 110 ‘I shan't go out at all of nights,’ said Susan.
1924 Amer. Mercury Nov. 290/2 He will snore at ease of nights upon clean sheets.
1944 H. G. Wells '42 to '44 149 These gentlemen seem able to sleep of nights without ordinary narcotics.

Compounds

C1.
a. Objective.
(a)
night-slayer n.
ΚΠ
1848 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 3) 107 Multitude of days Immortal as thy years, O nightslayer!
(b)
night-bringing adj.
ΚΠ
1595 F. Sabie Flora's Fortune Night-bringing Hesper rul'd in dimmed skies.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Nuicteux Nightly, night-bringing.
1837 Southern Literary Messenger 3 315 As a minister of joy to me, Are your night-bringing murmurs.
night-cheering adj.
ΚΠ
1824 T. Fenby Wild Roses 42 Softly, with night-cheering beams, Yon moon rides thro' the cloudless sky.
night-dispersing adj.
ΚΠ
1851 C. L. Smith tr. T. Tasso Jerusalem Delivered v. lxxxv When the night-dispersing dawn arose.
† night-swaying adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1683 I. Walton Chalkhill's Thealma & Clearchus 19 Night-swaying Morpheus clothes the East in black.
b. Instrumental.
night-clad adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > enveloped in dark of night
night-hid1601
night-veiled1776
night-cradleda1822
night-clad1845
night-mantled1850
night-cloaked1851
night-enshrouded1859
night-wrapt1873
1845 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 2) 10 I see the stars, night-clad, all gathering In long and dark procession.
1933 W. de la Mare Fleeting & Other Poems 164 With still, umbrageous, night-clad fronds..A giant cedar broods.
night-cloaked adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > enveloped in dark of night
night-hid1601
night-veiled1776
night-cradleda1822
night-clad1845
night-mantled1850
night-cloaked1851
night-enshrouded1859
night-wrapt1873
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick xxix. 138 To visit the night-cloaked deck.
1999 Long Island Voice (Nexis) 21 July 14 We sail east past the ocean-blue, night-cloaked frontier of Suffolk County.
night-cradled adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > enveloped in dark of night
night-hid1601
night-veiled1776
night-cradleda1822
night-clad1845
night-mantled1850
night-cloaked1851
night-enshrouded1859
night-wrapt1873
a1822 P. B. Shelley Woodman & Nightingale in Posthumous Poems (1824) 260 The dull ear Of the night-cradled earth.
1855 Dublin Univ. Mag. Sept. 298 Heavy dews Pearl the soft eyelids of night-cradled flowers.
night-enshrouded adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > enveloped in dark of night
night-hid1601
night-veiled1776
night-cradleda1822
night-clad1845
night-mantled1850
night-cloaked1851
night-enshrouded1859
night-wrapt1873
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities ii. xxiii. 156 Along the night-enshrouded roads.
1924 J. Hopper in B. C. Williams O. Henry Prize Stories of 1923 96 In thunder-swift chargings, they darted to and fro among the night-enshrouded invaders.
2000 Fort Pierce News (Florida) (Nexis) 16 June a1 Martin was standing over her nest, describing how trails in the sand tell a compelling, night-enshrouded story.
† night-hid adj. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > enveloped in dark of night
night-hid1601
night-veiled1776
night-cradleda1822
night-clad1845
night-mantled1850
night-cloaked1851
night-enshrouded1859
night-wrapt1873
1601 A. Munday & H. Chettle Death Earle of Huntington sig. G2 Summon this Castle,..This cage of night-hid owles.
1749 A. Hill Gideon (rev. ed.) i. xiii. 13 Where the flash'd Flame from night-hid Sinai's Brow?
night-hidden adj.
ΚΠ
a1854 J. Wilson Unimore in Poet. Wks. (1858) 476 In black woods Night-hidden flow they through the blazing morn.
1940 F. D. Davison in B. James Austral. Short Stories (1963) 62 From the night-hidden earth large white flowers were looking up.
night-mantled adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > enveloped in dark of night
night-hid1601
night-veiled1776
night-cradleda1822
night-clad1845
night-mantled1850
night-cloaked1851
night-enshrouded1859
night-wrapt1873
1850 T. T. Lynch Memorials Theophilus Trinal v. 79 Her beams come to a night-mantled home.
night-overtaken adj.
ΚΠ
a1785 R. Glover Athenaid (1787) I. x. 260 Belbina yields a port To night-o'ertaken sailors in their course.
1849 H. W. Longfellow Lighthouse v It stands..the night-o'ertaken mariner to save.
† night-struck adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1730 J. Thomson Summer in Seasons 116 Whose hoary chambers hold, So night-struck fancy dreams, the yelling ghost.
night-veiled adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > enveloped in dark of night
night-hid1601
night-veiled1776
night-cradleda1822
night-clad1845
night-mantled1850
night-cloaked1851
night-enshrouded1859
night-wrapt1873
1776 W. J. Mickle tr. L. de Camoens Lusiad 330 By night-veiled art proud Sylves falls his prey.
1881 H. Phillips tr. L. C. A. von Chamisso Faust 21 Yon night-veiled, hidden land of gloom.
† night-wildered adj. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > [adjective]
bemazed?c1225
madc1300
maskedc1300
marreda1375
astoniedc1386
adasedc1450
astonished1513
moping1566
bewandered1574
dizzy1579
westy1598
night-wildered1652
disconcerted1686
muzzy1723
flustered1743
bewildered1760
flurried1775
muddled1790
thought-bewildered1796
bedazzled1805
muggy1824
mused1842
moony1847
beflustered1864
bemused1880
snarled1881
bedazed1882
bemuddled1883
disoriented1957
disorientated1959
wifty1973
1652 E. Benlowes Theophila sig. A2v Let them,..being night-wildred in their Intellects, prosecute their Sensuality.
1854 B. P. Shillaber Coal-dealer's Dream in Rhymes with Reason & Without 235 A vast furnace blaze That burst on my night-wildered gaze.
night-wrapt adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > enveloped in dark of night
night-hid1601
night-veiled1776
night-cradleda1822
night-clad1845
night-mantled1850
night-cloaked1851
night-enshrouded1859
night-wrapt1873
1873 E. J. Brennan Witch of Nemi 118 Flames that made crimson all the night-wrapt sky.
c. Similative.
night-black adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > [adjective] > typically black > as night
night-blacka1591
night-dark1879
a1591 H. Smith Serm. (1592) 1030 As if wee were night-blacke-rauens.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna i. lii. 27 On night-black columns poised.
1993 R. J. Waller Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend i. 5 The cool patrician face coming only from an upper-shelf gene pool, the night-black hair and good skin.
night-dark adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > [adjective] > typically black > as night
night-blacka1591
night-dark1879
1879 E. Arnold Light of Asia 39 The night-dark steed.
1963 A. Lubbock Austral. Roundabout 20 Dust storms, rolling in from the desert in night-dark clouds.
night-haired adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [adjective] > having dark hair
blackeOE
black-hairedc1540
brown-haired1686
dark-haired1697
brunette1724
brune1747
raven-haired1778
melanocomous1836
night-haired1839
1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 106 My night-haired love! so sweet she was.
night-swift adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > [adjective]
swiftc888
swifta1050
currentc1300
quickc1300
hastivea1325
hastyc1330
ingnel1340
swiftyc1380
speedfula1387
fasta1400
swippingc1420
speedy1487
fleet1528
tite?a1540
scudding1545
flighty1552
suddenly1556
flight1581
feathered1587
Pegasean1590
wing-footed1591
swift-winged?1592
thought-swift-flying1595
wind-winged?1596
swallow-winged1597
Pegasarian1607
skelping1607
rapid1608
night-swifta1616
celerious1632
clipping1635
perniciousa1656
volatile1655
quick-foot1658
meteorous1667
windy1697
high-flying1710
fleet-footed1726
aliped1727
wickc1760
velocious1775
flight-performing1785
fast-going1800
fast-moving1802
meteor1803
wight-wapping1830
fleety1841
speeding1847
swiftening1848
two-forty1855
fire-swift1865
pennate1870
spinning1882
percursory1884
zippy1889
meteoric1895
pacy1906
presto1952
a1616 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream (1623) iii. ii. 380 Night-swift [1600 Nights swift] Dragons cut the clouds full fast.
C2. Adverbial, in the sense ‘by night’, ‘during the night’.
a. With present participial adjectives.
† night ambling adj. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adjective] > nocturnal or active at night
night-wandering1560
night-walking1597
night ambling1600
night-faring1714
night-straying1857
1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne iv. xxvii. 60 Of their night ambling dame, the Syrians prated.
night-contending adj.
ΚΠ
a1822 P. B. Shelley Prince Athanase in Posthumous Poems (1824) 108 Tempest's war Is levied by the night-contending winds.
† night-drinking adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1728 A. Ramsay Lure 4 Night-drinking sots [were] counting their lawin.
night-faring adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adjective] > nocturnal or active at night
night-wandering1560
night-walking1597
night ambling1600
night-faring1714
night-straying1857
1714 J. Gay Shepherd's Week vi. 57 Will-a-Wisp mis-leads Night-faring Clowns, O'er Hills.
1850 J. Sylvester Philo: Evangeliad 155 Forever burns the Beautiful In your night-faring sorrows, as a star.
1988 E. J. Scovell Workers in Metal in Coll. Poems vii The bold Against the sky night-faring scaffolders.
night freezing adj.
ΚΠ
1824 J. Symmons tr. Æschylus Agamemnon 33 Dewy cover of night freezing skies.
† night-gaping adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. i. 7 These night-gaping foes, are trampled vnder foote.
† night-going adj. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adjective] > taking place at night
night-going1639
late night1764
1639 S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 270 Who like unlucky night-going fires lead him to precipitations.
night-robbing adj.
ΚΠ
1664 J. Dryden Rival Ladies i. iii. 16 The Lady..is seiz'd by some Night-robbing Villains.
1818 J. K. Paulding Backwoodsman ii. 31 Tow'r of old, Haunt of night-robbing baron, stout and bold.
night-rolling adj.
ΚΠ
1811 P. B. Shelley St. Irvyne i. 39 The night-rolling breath of the blast.
night-scouting adj.
ΚΠ
a1631 J. Donne Sonnets (1635) iii. 9 Th' hydroptic drunkard, and night-scouting thief.
1923 R. Kipling Irish Guards in Great War I. 177 Our night-scouting contact aeroplanes.
night-shining adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > light emitted under particular conditions > [adjective] > phosphorescent
night-shining1598
noctilucous1680
noctilucal1682
noctilucent1691
phosphorous1717
self-luminous1751
phosphorescent1767
phosphoric1771
phosphoreous1776
phosphor1790
phosphorescing1794
phosphoretic1794
phosphorent1819
1598 J. Marston Certaine Satyres in Metamorph. Pigmalions Image 31 Night-shining Phœbe knowes what was begat, A monstrous Centaure, illegitimate.
1648 Bp. J. Wilkins Math. Magick ii. xi These Noctilucæ or Night-shining Bodies.
1842 T. W. Harris Treat. Insects New Eng. 49 The night-shining Elater, is the celebrated..fire-beetle of the West Indies.
1938 Sci. Monthly Dec. 498 The pearl is a product of the moon..consequently, the night-shining legends of the pearl are logical.
night-straying adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adjective] > nocturnal or active at night
night-wandering1560
night-walking1597
night ambling1600
night-faring1714
night-straying1857
1857 J. G. Holland Bay-path xxxiii. 414 The night-straying cow stumbled among them.
† night-trifling adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. F2v His glowing sight..all night trifling sprights doth chace away with fear.
night-tripping adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adjective]
nightlyeOE
nightyc1475
nocturnal1485
noxiala1500
nightish1530
nocturn?1530
nighterly1559
owlish1596
night-tripping1598
epinyctal1600
nighted?1606
nightern1615
noctual1632
nocturnous1727
overnight1870
nitely1970
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 i. i. 86 Some night tripping fairy had exchang'd..our children. View more context for this quotation
1792 S. Whyte Coll. Poems (ed. 2) 58 Round the jocund vicinage are seen Night-tripping fairies deftly foot the green.
1927 H. T. Lowe-Porter tr. T. Mann Magic Mountain (London ed.) I. v. 414 According to the Hebraic mythus, Lilith became a night-tripping fairy.
1997 Scotsman (Nexis) 12 Mar. 17 I used to watch the men of St Monans troop silently down to harbour, avoiding black cats and night-tripping ministers.
night-warbling adj.
ΚΠ
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 40 Where silence yields To the night-warbling Bird. View more context for this quotation
1840 H. M. Hart Poet. Wks. II. 59 The..plaint, By moonlight, of the lone night-warbling bird.
1999 Boston Globe (Nexis) 6 June m18 A dingo outside is crooning along with the singing piano player..drowning out the night-warbling frogs.
b. With verbal nouns.
night-angling n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [noun] > angling > type of
night fishing1653
night-angling1675
boat work1789
sea-angling1833
wrecking1973
belly boating1976
1675 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 10 465 Of Night-angling, What times are seasonable to angle, and what unseasonable.
1869 Cornhill Mag. Apr. 419 June and July are the best months for night-angling.
2001 Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) (Nexis) 10 Aug. c4 Jeff Heller from shop recommends sticking to night angling particularly since receiving good twilight reports.
† night-breaking n. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > burglary > [noun] > by night
night-breakinga1625
a1625 H. Finch Law (1636) 217 Burglary is the night-breaking of an house, with an intent to steale or kill.
night firing n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [noun] > type of firing
point and blank1590
false fire1602
potting1613
point-blank1614
running fire1629
pounding1633
bulleting1635
platooning1706
sharp-shot1725
street firing1727
ricochet1740
fire curtain1744
plunging fire1747
reverse fire1758
sniping1773
enfilade1796
rapid fire1800
line-firing1802
concentric1804
sharpshooting1806
rake1810
sniping fire1821
cross-firing1837
file-firing1837
curved fire1854
night firing1856
file-fire1857
volley-firing1859
cross-fire1860
joy-firing1864
snap-shooting1872
stringing1873
pot-shooting1874
indirect fire1879
sweeping1907
rapid1913
curtain of fire1916
ripple1939
ripple-firing1940
ripple fire1961
1856 D. H. Mahan Treat. on Field Fortification (ed. 3) 57 The object of the heurter is..to give the gun its proper direction, particularly in night firing.
1927 Amer. Mercury Jan. 111/1 This time the problem is one of night firing, with a moving gray target in the dark.
night fishing n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [noun] > angling > type of
night fishing1653
night-angling1675
boat work1789
sea-angling1833
wrecking1973
belly boating1976
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler v. 126 You are to know, there is night as well as day fishing for a Trout. View more context for this quotation
1852 Southern Literary Messenger 18 358/1 Numerous three-pronged spears for night-fishing.
1991 Coarse Fishing Feb. 20/1 There is no doubt that night fishing for chub can be very productive.
night nursing n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > art or science of medicine > practice of healing art > [noun] > tending the sick > by night
night nursing1857
1857 E. C. Gaskell Life C. Brontë I. iii. 49 Her husband..suffered no one else to take the night-nursing.
1990 J. Killeen Dementia (BNC) 7 In several parts of the country small night nursing services specifically for dementia sufferers have been started.
night poaching n.
ΚΠ
1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. Night Poaching.
1892 Athenæum 4 June 723/2 He was..engaged in night poaching for hares with lurchers and gate-nets.
1998 Herald Sun (Durham, N. Carolina) (Nexis) 29 Nov. d11 It is more difficult for WRC enforcement officers to control night poaching.
night shooting n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > [noun] > other types of shooting
night shooting1850
rough-shooting1850
point shooting1857
cover-shooting1864
snap-shooting1872
rough shoot1889
1850 R. Gordon-Cumming Five Years Hunter's Life S. Afr. II. xxviii. 242 This wound up my elephant night-shooting.
1991 J. Phillips You'll never eat Lunch in this Town Again (1992) 228 Big pressure, short schedule, and short money, New York in the summer. Night shooting. I have only visited the set once.
night travelling n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > [noun] > by night
night travelling1835
1835 H. W. Longfellow Outre-Mer (1857) 375 This night-travelling is..far from disagreeable.
1987 B. West Railwaymen Wolverton (BNC) 31 For night travelling, brass bedsteads..were provided.
c. With past participial adjectives.
night-born adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > [adjective] > born > at night
night-born1610
1610 R. Niccols England's Eliza in Mirour for Magistrates (new ed.) v Error's night-borne children.
1745 E. Young Consolation 103 My solemn Night-born Adjuration hear.
1845 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 2) 106 The cold pure radiance of the night-born light.
1991 C. S. Friedman Black Sun Rising xxxiv. 347 The force of its venom was directed at the nightborn, the demonic, creatures that shied away from the source of life.
night-fallen adj.
ΚΠ
a1750 A. Hill Wedding Day in Wks. (1753) 172 Night-fall'n dews, by day's warm courtship, won, From reeking roses, climb'd, to kiss the sun.
1798 R. Bloomfield Winter in Farmer's Boy 333 And night-fall'n Lambs require the Shepherd's care.
1828 T. Moore Ill Omens iii She..kiss'd off its night-fallen dew.
night-folded adj.
ΚΠ
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound iii. iii. 108 Night-folded flowers Shall suck unwitting hues in their repose.
night-foundered adj.
ΚΠ
1637 J. Milton Comus 17 Some one like us night founder'd here.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 204 The Pilot of some small night-founder'd Skiff. View more context for this quotation
a1847 H. F. Lyte Battle of Salamanca xxvii, in Remains (1850) 173 Bless'd as the rays of dawn appear To some night-founder'd mariner.
1997 Harper's Mag. Mar. 42/1 Yet I'm still night-foundered, still blind so much of the time.
night-grown adj.
ΚΠ
a1593 C. Marlowe Edward II (1594) sig. C3v The people..cannot brooke a night growne mushrump.
1925 H. Acton in Oxf. Poetry 2 Like night-grown fungi pushing on the air.
night-haunted adj.
ΚΠ
1768 H. Walpole Mysterious Mother i. i. 2 The carle..like the tenant Of some night-haunted ruin, bore an aspect Of horror, worn to habitude.
1859 Ld. Lytton Wanderer (ed. 2) 224 A wild night-haunted track.
1953 E. Sitwell Gardeners & Astronomers 12 The secrets and the night-haunted jewels of the catafalques!
night-swollen adj.
ΚΠ
1818 J. Keats Endymion i. 13 Are not our lowing heifers sleeker than Night-swollen mushrooms?
C3. Attributive.
a. Designating things belonging or relating to night, or existing, operating, prevailing, taking place, etc., in the evening or at night.
night air n.
ΚΠ
1716 C. Johnson Cobler of Preston Prol. He turn'd his Back upon you, And the keen Night-Air from the Mountains scorning.
1859 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing i. 12 Another extraordinary fallacy is the dread of night air.
1983 S. Cooper Seaward xv. 135 The night air was growing colder.
night alarm n.
ΚΠ
1600 E. Fairfax Godfrey of Bulloigne xii. 215 Nor yet vnexpert am in night alarmes.
1870 A. D. T. Whitney We Girls xii. 198 Mrs. Hobart has a ‘fire-gown’... She made it for a fire, or for illness, or any night alarm.
1930 Sci. Monthly 31 212 A stout flashlight is also valuable, for searching out hiding insects and for various night alarms.
night ascent n.
ΚΠ
1855 R. R. Madden Lit. Life & Corr. Ctess of Blessington 95 He has given an account of our night ascent, and adventures.
1956 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 249 186 Balloons..were released..between 0930 and 1700 I.m.t., no night ascents being made.
night attack n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > [noun] > night-attack
waking1525
camisado1548
camisade1560
canvasado1605
night attack1763
1763 J. Macpherson Temora ii. 26 Ossian..reprimands Foldath for advising a night-attack, as the Irish army were so much superior in number to the enemy.
1893 F. W. L. Adams New Egypt 242 The most difficult and dangerous operation in warfare—a night attack.
1991 Sci. Amer. Aug. 97 (advt.) The main element of the Hornet's night attack system is a forward-looking infrared..sensor.
night baseball n.
ΚΠ
1910 Morrison's Chicago Weekly 1 Dec. 48/2 The future of night baseball is assured.
1991 J. Garreau Edge City i. 51 The hot trend is to have parking decks with roofs at expensive, ‘wasted’, warehouselike heights, with light levels appropriate to night baseball.
night blast n.
ΚΠ
a1800 M. Robinson Wks. (1806) II. 161 The black weeds Wav'd, as the night-blast swept them.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe I. vi. 103 The rich hangings shook to the night blast.
1912 G. K. Chesterton Lepanto in Coll. Poems (1980) iii. 107 Stiff flags straining in the night blasts cold.
night-brawl n.
ΚΠ
a1661 B. Holyday tr. Juvenal Satyres (1673) vi. 91 And so scape Night-brawls.
1781 Compl. Mod. London Spy 38 Men taken up for assaults or night-brawls were termed Rats.
1883 Cent. Mag. Apr. 858/2 Sailors from all parts of the world took sides, according to nationality, in bloody street riots and night brawls.
1993 Mediaweek (Nexis) 28 June 10 Nightbrawl approaches; the late night battle [between] NBC's Jay Leno and..Fox's Chevy Chase should have buyers smiling.
night breeze n.
ΚΠ
1774 W. Mason Poems (Jod.) 169 Not a night breeze wakes to blow.
1858 J. Martineau Stud. Christianity 59 The night-breeze on his brow.
1993 Hemispheres June 71/2 Night breezes tingle the skin.
night bus n.
ΚΠ
1962 Peking Rev. 30 Mar. 20/2 Chang Mei-yi, carrying a broken oil pipe, jumped off the night bus and went into the first lighted repair works she found.
1998 Gay Times Aug. 25 I ended up leaving early and walking all the way to Trafalgar Square to get a nightbus to Camberwell.
night-calm n.
ΚΠ
1850 W. Wordsworth Prelude v. 107 When Contemplation, like the night-calm felt Through earth and sky, spreads widely.
† night charm n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1621 J. Fletcher et al. Trag. of Thierry & Theodoret iii. ii. sig. F4v They sit Vpon my heart like night charmes, black and heauy.
night city n.
ΚΠ
1970 T. Hughes Crow 55 Seeing the night-city..He bellows laughter.
1991 G. Burn Alma Cogan (1992) vi. 108 The night city achieved effortlessly in a few broad strokes: splashes of white to suggest lighted windows.
night class n.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > teaching > means of teaching > [noun] > class or course > types of
summer session1594
evening class1762
summer school1793
training course1822
shop class1844
elective1850
optional1855
night class1870
correspondence class1876
Chautauqua1884
correspondence course1902
gut1902
holiday course1906
shop1912
pud1917
training seminar1917
film school1929
day school1931
refresher1939
farm shop1941
survey course1941
weekend course1944
crash programme1947
sandwich course1955
thick sandwich1962
module1966
bird course1975
1870 N. Amer. Rev. July 17 The Committee subsidises instruction in elementary drawing in the schools for poor children..and in gratuitous night classes for artisans.
1936 N. Coward Fumed Oak i, in To-night at 8.30 II. 47 Your father was a gentleman, which is more than your husband ever will be, with all his night-classes and his book reading—night-classes indeed!
1999 Mirror (Electronic ed.) 17 July In Bristol I took a night class in life drawing.
night constable n.
ΚΠ
1785 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1938) VI. 267 (title) The night constable.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xxv. 312 The shadow of a gigantic night constable, struggling with a prisoner.
1903 Strand Mag. Nov. 493 It was the housekeeper..who drew the night constable's attention to it.
† night-convention n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1649 W. Drummond Wks. (1711) 187 At all Assemblies, especially the Night-Conventions.
night-damp n.
ΚΠ
1747 W. King Toast i. 19 He had heard of hard Students destroyed by Night-Damps.
1840 E. E. Napier Scenes & Sports Foreign Lands II. App. 243 The exposure of his unseasoned person alternately to night damps and the burning rays of the sun.
1992 C. McCarthy All Pretty Horses (1993) ii. 140 The nightdamp laid the dust going up the ciénaga road and they rode the horses side by side at a walk.
† night-danger n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1661 B. Holyday tr. Juvenal Satyres (1673) 42 Now view night-dangers, and the dreadful height Of our house-tops.
night darkness n.
ΚΠ
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis ii. 260 Thee whilst night darknesse right after soonest approached.
1645 S. Rutherford Tryal & Trivmph of Faith (1845) 202 This is like the expelling of night-darkness out of the whole body of the air, by the presence of the sun.
1986 R. Coleman Wide Awake at 3:00 A.M. (1992) 5 Freed from the constraints of the usual 24-hour time cues provided by sunlight and night darkness, the plant ran its own independent day length.
† night-dread n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 128 In þe tracte beþ I-schewid foure manerys..of temptaciouns, of þe whiche þe firste is..nyȝte drede.
night-dream n.
ΚΠ
1565 B. Googe tr. ‘M. Palingenius’ Zodiake of Life (new ed.) iv Hereof it comes that in night dreames sometimes doth Venus dwel.
1637 S. Rutherford Lett. (1664) xc. 184 Galloping after our own night-dreams, (such are the roving of our miscarrying hearts).
1801 W. Sotheby Julian & Agnes ii. i. 16 Takes of woe, which breath'd to common minds, Had shap'd their spectred night-dreams.
1992 C. P. Estés Women who run with Wolves vii. 211 She cross-fertilizes, just as the soul fertilizes mind with nightdreams.
night duty n. frequently hyphenated when used attributively.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > work > times or periods of work > [noun] > spell of work or duty > at night
night duty1838
dogwatch1851
night shift1860
1838 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 1 438 If..the soldier's liability..arises from his own intemperance or exposure to night-duty,..why should not a similar effect be produced in Jamaica?
1921 A. Christie Mysterious Affair at Styles viii. 170 She had kindly offered to remain on night duty.
1991 Gay Times Apr. 59/2 Night-duty police stuffing with doorstop chips and saveloys.
night encampment n.
ΚΠ
1839 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. Aug. 147 The night encampments in the forest, with a bear-skin for a couch, and a saddle for a pillow.
2001 Evening Herald (Plymouth) 5 June 15 The mock attack..was carried out on the recruits' night encampment.
night express n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > train > passenger train > express or non-stop
express train1841
lightning express1844
express1848
limited express1860
rapide1868
limited1869
night express1877
non-stop1909
limited train1913
Blue Train1922
rapido1939
1877 J. Blackwood Let. 25 June in George Eliot Lett. (1956) VI. 390 We propose to come down by the night express.
1975 N. Luard Travelling Horseman iii. 63 He was on the road to Edinburgh..to catch the night express back to London.
night-fancy n.
ΚΠ
1637 S. Rutherford Lett. (1863) I. lxxxviii. 226 Dreams..and night-fancies of a miserable life of sin.
1821 C. Lamb in London Mag. Oct. 387/1 My night-fancies have long ceased to be afflictive.
1904 W. H. Hudson Green Mansions xxii. 292 Half-delirious night-fancies.
night fear n.
ΚΠ
1653 J. Rogers Ohel or Beth-Shemesh 520 An Amethyst..takes away from night-feares, and provokes sweet rest.
1821 C. Lamb in London Mag. Oct. 384 (title) Witches, and other night-fears.
1914 S. Lewis Our Mr. Wrenn xvi. 214 Touching her sleeve with the searching finger-tips of a child comforted from night fears.
1949 H. Wilcox Six Moons in Sulawesi xvii. 361 I lay in bed wondering whether I was not really ill, a prey to humiliating night fears.
night ferry n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel for transporting people or goods > [noun] > ferry > types of
toni1582
horse-boat1591
bac1676
ferry bridge1696
rope-ferry1755
pont1776
ferry flat1805
steam-ferry1812
steam ferry-boat1812
night boat1839
bar-boat1857
train ferry-boat1867
car ferry1884
grind1889
swinging-bridge1892
train ferry1900
night ferry1948
SeaCat1954
walla-walla1957
1948 T. Williams Let. 30 July in Five O'Clock Angel (1990) 5 I shall probably take the night-ferry to London.
1987 E. Anthony No Enemy but Time (BNC) 19 She bought a ticket on the night ferry from Liverpool.
night-fight n.
ΚΠ
a1836 D. Crockett Life (1860) 153 (heading) Night fight with a bear.
1923 R. Kipling Irish Guards in Great War I. 7 The 3rd Coldstream Guards..beat off that attack in a night-fight.
night flight n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > [noun] > a flight through air or space > other types of flight
night flight1830
solo1911
mercy flight1933
cross-country1948
general aviation1952
free flight1954
GA1974
instrument flight1988
1830 W. Scott Ayrshire Trag. ii. i You..saw, perhaps, the night-flight which began it.
1918 War Illustr. 13 July 372/2 My first night-flight was during one of the earlier Zeppelin raids on London and the Eastern Counties.
1991 Gay Times Apr. 59/2 The CAA also regulates the number of hours pilots can fly... It recently..put new limits on the number of consecutive night flights.
night fog n.
ΚΠ
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iv. 81 Thus sayd, through nightfog he vannisht.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. iv. 30 All diffidences, like night-fogs before the sun, exhale at her approach.
1849 H. D. Thoreau Week Concord & Merrimack Rivers 250 What could it [sc. the bittern] tell of stagnant pools and reeds and dank night fogs!
1992 M. J. Staples Sergeant Joe (BNC) 15 He..gave his eyes time to adjust to the thickness of the night fog.
† night form n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1576 G. Baker tr. C. Gesner Newe Jewell of Health ii. f. 64 The water..also deliuereth the night formes of Venus in sleepe.
night frost n.
ΚΠ
1808 J. Cottle Fall of Cambria I. i. 18 Thou needest not, Cautions and arguments, cold as night frosts To win thy spirit to the brave man's part.
1992 Flora Internat. Mar. 34/1 Dahlias should not be planted out until all danger of night frost is past.
night-gale n.
ΚΠ
1798 W. Sotheby tr. C. M. Wieland Oberon iii. liv. 94 Where chill the night-gale blows.
1854 R. Montgomery Wellington ii, in Poet. Wks. 535 Like banners seem the clouds up-roll'd..And, here and there, by night-gales driven.
night game n.
ΚΠ
1633 J. Ford 'Tis Pitty shee's Whore v. sig. I4 Hath your new sprightly Lord Found out a tricke in night-games?
1994 D. Halberstam October 1964 xxii. 273 He rarely ate a full meal before a game, although before night games he would eat a little bit.
night-gust n.
ΚΠ
1820 J. Keats Isabella in Lamia & Other Poems 67 Hoarse night-gusts sepulchral briars among.
night-halt n.
ΚΠ
1750 J. Byng Diary 19 Sept. in Torrington Diaries (1938) IV. 157 The Coll's servant..makes his own way to our Night Halt.
1817 Edinb. Rev. Nov. 9 In the..night-halts of her luxurious progress.
1989 V. Singh Jaya Ganga 44 The other day, a foreign girl got fond of a porter and virtually jumped on him during a night-halt.
night haunt n.
ΚΠ
c1642 F. Jaques Queene of Corsica (1989) iv. v. 58 Goblins keepe here theyr Night-haunts.
1859 A. J. Munby Diary 20 Mar. in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 28 A large & still flourishing crop of secret dens & night haunts.
1960 Times 29 Feb. 3/3 Much tongue wagging here [i.e. in Paris] from the plushier night haunts down to the homeliest bistro.
† night-heaven n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1814 J. Hogg Hunting of Badlewe iii. vi. 84 The wandering rack of the night-heaven wheeled back To one great vortex o'er my lonely cot.
1821 W. C. Bryant Ages xiv Like the night-heaven, when clouds are black with rain.
night hospital n.
ΚΠ
1963 Guardian 16 May 4/6 The Marlborough day hospital..has been working as..a ‘night’ hospital where patients can go to work during the day, returning for help in the evenings.
1964 G. L. Cohen What's Wrong with Hospitals? viii. 174 He started a night hospital... Executives and professional men who would not otherwise contemplate treatment come by night to bare their unconscious.
night hour n.
ΚΠ
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. ii. x. 77 The upper half of the Circle..is the Day-hours, and the lower..half is the Night-hours.
1830 F. D. Hemans Songs of Affections 100 The night-hour's haunted calm.
1989 J. Lingaro Tug of War (1991) ii. 30 Their world had slowed down and the night hours had seemed interminable.
night-hush n.
ΚΠ
1833 A. Domett Poems 206 Her voice though so low, In the Night-hush sounds awfully clear.
1849 C. Brontë Shirley II. vii. 167 Another..disturbance broke the night-hush.
night lunch n.
ΚΠ
1933 M. Pell S.S. Utah 12 Anybody know where the night lunch hangs out?
1945 Seafarers' Log 17 Aug. 6/5 Men coming back from shore leave are not able to get into night lunch.
night march n.
ΚΠ
1659 W. Chamberlayne Pharonnida v. i. 115 The Princess in A mourning Litter, close as she had bin In a night-march unto her tomb, is through The Cities wandring tumults led.
1760 A. Mitchell Let. 16 Aug. (1850) II. xiii. 190 Desertion..was rendered very easy by the confusion incident to night-marches through woods.
a1806 C. J. Fox Hist. James II (1808) iii. 212 After the disastrous night march from Killerne.
1990 I. Young Enigma Variations (BNC) 136 A very tough night march. We were all absolutely fagged out.
† night-mart n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1614 S. Purchas Pilgrimage (ed. 2) viii. v. 760 The many faults (as they report) of Mariners in priuate truckings and night-marts.
night meal n.
ΚΠ
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe II. iv. 56 (note) A rere-supper was a night-meal, and sometimes signified a collation..after the regular supper.
1870 W. C. Bryant tr. Homer Iliad II. xxiv. 407 They found the guard engaged With their night-meal.
1927 Amer. Mercury May 108/1 There was a noon-halt for another meal and a second halt for the night meal.
1990 I. Carmody Farseekers x. 100 Mouth full, I asked Emmon why I had not seen Gilaine at the nightmeal.
night meeting n.
ΚΠ
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iii. sig. Ii Women are not wont to appoint secreat night meetings for the purchasing of land.
1662 H. Hibbert Body Divinity I. 252 The Protestants in their night-meetings committed most abominable uncleannesse.
1822 T. Jefferson Let. 2 Nov. in Writings (1984) 1464 The women..have their night meetings and praying parties.
1990 P. Hennessy Cabinet 57 I usually left the night meeting about 2.00 pm.
night mist n.
ΚΠ
1752 M. Browne Sunday Thoughts (new ed.) iii, in Wks. & Rest of Creation 202 Wintry Age Threat'ning me near..with Cares and Wants..Like the Night Mists my Heel fast gath'ring on.
1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia I. xi. 232 The..sun rose swiftly through the dim night-mist of the desert.
1994 Harper's Mag. Mar. 68/3 Hazes are often yellow, as are night mists, miasmas, noxious effluvia, [etc.].
night noise n.
ΚΠ
1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations xlv, in All Year Round 8 June 241/2 Whatever night-fancies and night-noises crowded on me, they never warded off this ‘Don't go home’.
1981 Cook's Mag. Sept. 88/1 Serenaded by the night noises of insects, my companion turned to me for practical guidance.
night nursery n.
ΚΠ
1844 T. Webster & F. Parkes Encycl. Domest. Econ. xxvi. i. 1189 Night nurseries require little furniture beyond bedding, and utensils for washing and bathing.
1991 B. Leigh Catch of Hands 60 In the night nursery, Nanny undoes my Liberty bodice.
† night oblation n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xxii. 93 Pure Dian..[I] will offer night oblations to thee. View more context for this quotation
night path n.
ΚΠ
1632 T. Heywood Foure Prentises i, in Wks. (1874) II. 220 Making the darke night-pathes shine bright as day.
1871 Scribner's Monthly Apr. 607 It was in one of the evening, or ‘night’ schools..of new York City, and she was one of the..children..who, after a day of toil, try these uncertain night paths to knowledge.
1983 New Scientist (BNC) 24 Feb. Any increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer in areas under the night path of the radiation cloud.
night performance n.
ΚΠ
1693 J. Dryden tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires i. 5 When Night-performance holds the place of Merit.
1879 Dramatic Notes 23 I have given 379 Matinées, equal to one year and a quarter of night performances.
1998 New Yorker 22 June 85/1 Night performances had their own hot charge.
night perfume n.
ΚΠ
1892 Overland Monthly Aug. 136 The birds and bees slept, lulled by the heavy night perfumes of the lovely garden.
1993 J. Cartwright Masai Dreaming (BNC) 53 The exotic flowers pump out their night perfumes.
† night-philosophy n. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > [noun] > pseudo-philosophy
foolosophy1592
night-philosophy1677
pseudo-philosophya1817
pseudosophy1839
philosophastry1850
philosophistry1880
society > faith > aspects of faith > superstition > [noun]
superstitionc1384
superstitiosity1485
collier's faith1581
superstition1609
night-philosophy1677
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > error in belief or opinion > [noun] > instance of
error1340
misbeliefa1387
misopinion1489
delusion1552
fallacy1590
delirium1599
pseudodox1601
ignotion1647
by-opinion1670
night-philosophy1677
sphalm1715
pseudo-idea1863
1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. III iii. 81 Content not thy self with..dark spurious, false, night-philosophie.
1880 S. Lanier Owl against Robin in Poems (1908) 49 The night-philosophy hoots at pain.
night raid n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > raid > [noun]
roadeOE
skeck1297
chevacheec1380
forayc1400
reisea1450
raid1455
bodrag1537
skeg1542
reid1544
inroad1548
outroad1560
excursion1577
excurse1587
bodraging1590
cavalcade1591
chevachance1592
chivancy1616
algaradea1649
course1651
outrakea1765
commando1791
razzia1821
muru1836
chappow1860
night raid1872
1872 W. M. Donnel Pioneers of Marion County 228 Fired up with bad whisky, Mat and John made a night raid upon Red Rock.
1932 W. H. Auden Orators 110 The shamming dead, the night-raid, the feinted retreat.
2001 Daily Tel. 13 July 8/7 The last surviving bog orchid in East Anglia..has been stolen in a night raid on a nature reserve.
night ramble n.
ΚΠ
1654 E. Gayton Pleasant Notes Don Quixot iv. xx. 268 Witches are confin'd in their night rambles to egge shels.
1894 R. Kipling Jungle Bk. 66 He had come across more than one such barricade in his night rambles after things to eat.
2001 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 16 May 25 His desperate cries for help were heard by a group of children on a night ramble.
night-rate n.
ΚΠ
1873 D. A. Wells Relation of Govt. to Telegr. 128 Taking the present day rates and night rates, and striking the average, the priority rate..is higher..than the present average rate.
1939 R. A. Knox Let Dons Delight ix. 247 My host returned, voluble..in his anathemas over the cheap night-rate for telephoning.
1975 J. R. L. Anderson Death in North Sea iv. 73 ‘Can you get a helicopter out tonight?’ ‘I can, but..night-rates for the crews make it rather expensive.’
† night recollection n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1729 W. Law Serious Call xxiii. 470 It should be a constant part of his night recollection.
† night-refection n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1726 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey V. xx. 172 In vain the Queen the night-refection prest.
night rehearsal n.
ΚΠ
1812 Dramat. Censor for 1811 312 The Public are respectfully informed, that it being found absolutely necessary to have a general night rehearsal of the new Burlesque Tragic Drama, there will be no performance in the Theatre this evening.
1866 M. Mackintosh Stage Reminisc. 98 We rehearsed the piece, without music, after which a night rehearsal, including the orchestra, was called.
night road n.
ΚΠ
1853 C. Swain Lett. Laura D'Auverne 178 'Midst deep cares, and night-roads deeper.
1933 W. de la Mare Fleeting & Other Poems 42 The empty night-road to the sea.
1991 P. Matthiessen Afr. Silences iii. 168 The same bird life that one sees in the savannas of East Africa..the nightjars and spotted eagle-owls of the night roads.
night-rule n.
ΚΠ
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 5 How now, mad spirit? What nightrule now about this haunted groue? View more context for this quotation
1858 W. M. Thackeray Virginians I. xxxi. 243 The pent up words and confined thoughts get a night-rule, and rush abroad and disport themselves.
night-self n.
ΚΠ
1922 D. H. Lawrence Fantasia of Unconscious xv. 271 The night-self is the very basis of the dynamic self.
1965 Punch 3 Nov. 665/1 The struggle in man between the day-self and the night-self.
† night-sermon n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1650 R. Stapleton tr. F. Strada De Bello Belgico iii. 61 At..these night-sermons, tumults were raised.
night service n.
ΚΠ
1594 in J. Nichols Progresses Queen Elizabeth (1823) III. 284 All requisite service, be it night-service or otherwise,..to all ladis.
1896 H. B. Swete Church Services 39 The night services consisted of Nocturns, Mattins and Lauds; at daybreak came the supplementary Mattins.
1995 N. Whittaker Platform Souls (1996) xiii. 123 As recently as 1980 you could..go in the opposite direction on the night service from Manchester to Cleethorpes.
night shadow n.
ΚΠ
1618 P. Holderus tr. J. van Oldenbarneveld Barneuel's Apol. sig. G2v Out yee Popish knaues, sonnes of darkenesse, and night shadows.
1847 M. Howitt Ballads 380 Till the night-shadows dimmed the glen.
1994 L. A. Graf Traitor Winds x. 118 Watching night shadows coalesce into the distinct shapes of rocks and cacti.
night-shine n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > moonlight
moonlightc1300
moona1393
moonshinec1425
night-shine1648
moonglow1860
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Nachtlicht, night-light, Night-shine.
1865 A. D. Whitney Gayworthys iii. 32 Waiting in the night-shine at the open door.
1921 W. de la Mare Crossings 55 Come the nightshine, packs down all.
night-show n.
ΚΠ
1629 tr. Herodian Hist. (1635) 302 Chariot-races, Stage~plaies, Feasts and Night-shewes.
1987 R. Mistry Tales from Firozsha Baag 47 Vera and Dolly..went to nightshow at Eros Cinema.
night-shriek n.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) v. v. 11 My sences would haue cool'd To heare a Night-shrieke . View more context for this quotation
1647 R. Stapleton tr. Juvenal Sixteen Satyrs 41 Let me live where no night-shrieks terrify.
a1850 W. L. Bowles Grave of Last Saxon ii, in Poet. Wks. (1855) II. 104 That Tower Which oft..has echoed to night-shrieks Of secret murder.
† night sign n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1450 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) viii. ix Þese signes..that beþ watery and erthy beþ colde and femule and nyȝt signes.
night signal n.
ΚΠ
1710 J. Bingham Origines Ecclesiasticæ III. viii. vii. 238 In some Monasteries they took the Office by Turns of going about to every ones Cell, and with the Knock of an Hammer calling the Monks to Church,..whence the Instrument is termed by them the Night-signal.
1834 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 35 320/2 She did not make the night signal.
2001 Asbury Park Press (Neptune, New Jersey) (Nexis) 16 July b1 At the Navy lab, Benjamin began to work on an idea he had for night signals.
night sky n.
ΚΠ
1822 W. Tennant Thane of Fife i. xix. 12 Dazzling the night-sky with celestial glow.
1981 I. McEwan Comfort of Strangers vi. 69 Mary remarked on the clarity of the stars, on how rarely one saw the night sky from a city.
night smell n.
ΚΠ
1848 E. C. Gaskell Mary Barton II. iv. 53 The night-smell of bruised grass came up from under her feet.
1969 V. Nabokov Ada ii. vii. 404 A pestproof breeding house, with..refinements—such as background night smells and night-animal calls to create a natural atmosphere.
night sound n.
ΚΠ
1853 C. Brontë Villette II. xxvi. 256 She checked at intervals her velvet march; inclined her ear, and consulted the night sounds: I should rather say, the night silence.
1889 ‘M. Twain’ Connecticut Yankee xliii. 560 The stillness was death-like. True, there were the usual night-sounds of the country.
2001 I. McEwan Atonement 200 They listened to the night sounds they had grown used to.
night-speech n.
ΚΠ
1934 E. Reynard Narrow Land ii. 52 The Marsh Owl woke in the Cedar Tree and cried ‘Gone, gone,’ in the Monomoyick tongue, his favourite night-speech.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring ii. vi. 352 I hear nothing but the night-speech of plant and stone.
night-station n.
ΚΠ
1849 G. Grote Hist. Greece VI. ii. xlix. 265 The Athenian captain had really gone back to take night-station on his own coast.
1863 Frank Leslie's Illustr. Newspaper 6 June 164 Arrived at the night-station, Mr. Campbell, though his mule was an excellent animal, felt considerably fatigued.
night stealth n.
ΚΠ
a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland 115 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) Night stealths which are commonly driven in by-wayes, and by blinde fordes.
2000 Summary of World Broadcasts Pt. 3: Asia-Pacific (B.B.C.) (Nexis) 4 Aug. FE/D3910/G Night-time training equipment in 12 major categories related to night combat and to ‘night stealth’.
night-storm n.
ΚΠ
1641 N. Richards Poems Sacred & Satyricall 135 Hope cleares Night-stormes, calmes the tempestuous day.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe I. ii. 36 The cavalcade..rode on as men do who wish to reach their inn before the bursting of a night-storm.
1992 Toronto Star (Nexis) 3 Sept. ma1 It was a world offering..nightstorms on an open sea so black that vision was reduced to the bow of the boat.
night study n.
ΚΠ
1761 Biogr. Dict. II. 9 His constitution..was weakened still more by the intemperance of his night-studies.
1878 T. Hardy Return of Native II. iv. ii. 254 A surgeon..pronounced the disease to be acute inflammation induced by Clym's night studies.
1989 S. Chinodya Harvest of Thorns (1990) xiv. 93 He..carved his name on desks, smoked in toilets, skipped night studies to raid the neighbouring farm, [etc.].
night talk n.
ΚΠ
1596 R. Linche Dom Diego in Diella sig. D8v Dom Diego full of heauines, abroade did walke, his night talke to repeate.
1859 G. Meredith Ordeal Richard Feverel II. vi. 103 Hearing the hushed night-talk of the trees about her dwelling.
1992 Broadcasting 27 Jan. 22/1 The NBC stations have teamed up with Viacom Enterprises to syndicate Night Talk with Dr. David Viscott.
night-tempest n.
ΚΠ
1811 P. B. Shelley St. Irvyne i. 39 Oft have I brav'd the chill night-tempest's fury.
1929 E. Blunden Near & Far 41 Night-tempest not so loud as those long moans From low-gorged lairs, which outshine Zion's towers.
night thought n.
ΚΠ
1742 E. Young (title) The complaint: or, night-thoughts on life, death, and immortality.
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus i. iii. 8/2 The utterance of such extraordinary Night-thoughts.
1989 A. Geras Green Behind Glass (BNC) 34 My night thoughts are very greedy.
night-town n.
ΚΠ
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xv. [Circe] 408 The Mabbot street entrance of nighttown.
1990 S. Turow Burden of Proof i. v. 74 As he crept in and out of a dusky night-town on the borders of sleep, she appeared in his mind alarmingly confused.
night train n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > train > running during the night
night train1847
owl train1856
ghost train1878
1847 G. G. Meade Let. 20 Apr. (1913) I. 196 I may come on in the night train, but I am so fatigued with traveling at night that I now propose to come in the day line.
1954 T. S. Eliot Confidential Clerk i. 30 We took the night train, and did the Channel crossing.
1992 J. Torrington Swing Hammer Swing! xxi. 185 Stuff that resonated with hard-times America..a world of wet freightyards, hobo woodsmoke, and night trains coming down.
† night-vanity n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1637 S. Rutherford Lett. (1863) I. lxxxviii. 226 Bewitched with dreams, shadows,..night-vanities.
night vigil n.
ΚΠ
1669 A. Woodhead tr. Life St. Teresa (1671) ii. xxxiii. 220 There were frequent Night-Vigils kept there.
1867 Harper's Mag. Feb. 382/1 I..left him alone with the dead. His night vigil did not kill him.
1987 ‘J. Gash’ Moonspender (1988) xxii. 201 Veiller means to keep a night vigil.
† night-wagon n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1827 J. Clare Shepherd's Cal. 111 The pale Night-waggon driving through the sky.
night-web n.
ΚΠ
1906 T. Hardy Dynasts: Pt. 2nd vi. v. 276 Is it where sky-fires flame and flit, Or solar craters spew and spit, Or ultra-stellar night-webs knit?
night-wonder n.
ΚΠ
1909 E. Pound Personae 22 The strange night-wonder of your eyes Dies not.
night-world n.
ΚΠ
1852 Eliza Cook's Jrnl. 25 Dec. 165/1 I only felt that there was a wretched home behind, and the brilliant night-world of the town before.
1939 D. Thomas Map of Love 75 The clean winter sounds of the nightworld.
1980 F. Weldon Puffball (1981) 97 She heard music, faintly, on the wind, and was surprised to remember that the night world had people in it.
b. Designating things used or intended for use at night, garments worn at night, etc.
night attire n.
ΚΠ
1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. G Belike shees putting on her night attire.
1671 A. Behn Amorous Prince i. i. 1 Enter Cloris drest in her night Attire.
1859 G. Meredith Ordeal Richard Feverel I. vii. 106 Immediately the maid had departed, little Clare deliberately exchanged night attire for that of day.
1993 Q. Jardine Skinner's Rules vi. 21 Sarah stripped off Bob's Rugby World Cup tee-shirt, which had been her night attire.
night bait n.
ΚΠ
1696 J. Smith True Art Angling (title page) Baiting of the Ground, and Night Baits.
1991 Coarse Fishing Feb. 20/2 For night fishing generally I have the best results with meat and cheesepaste, the latter being the night bait supreme.
† night-basket n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) iii. xiv. 16/2 He beareth sable a Voyder Baskett, or a night Baskett Or.
1814 Sporting Mag. 44 103 You escape behind a lazarone's night-basket.
night bell n.
ΚΠ
1715 L. Theobald Persian Princess iii. i. 27 Soikn as the Night-Bell tolls the Hour of Twelve.
1832 F. Marryat Newton Forster III. vii. 96 A night-bell..was attached to one side of the street door.
1964 Lancet 3 Oct. 751/2 The night bell shattered our first sleep.
night candle n.
ΚΠ
1802 J. Woodforde Diary 6 Sept. (1931) V. 405 Had a very indifferent Night of rest last Night, owing to the Night Candle filling the Room..with intolerable Smoke & Stink.
1893 Atlantic Monthly Feb. 154/1 ‘You are not willing,’ she would whisper fiercely at the night candle.
2001 Northern Echo (Nexis) 25 June 8 Go-to-Beds..were a kind of short-life night candle.
night-chemise n.
ΚΠ
1818 M. Edgeworth Let. 31 Aug. (1971) 78 The last Bath bride..has transparent night chemises of the thinnest muslin.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair lxiii. 571 In her night-chemise with a lamp in her hand.
night-cloak n.
ΚΠ
1654 D. Osborne Lett. (1888) 246 Going out to walk in my night-cloak and night-gown.
1822 W. Tennant Thane of Fife vi. xxix. 249 Begird we, Bancho, our night-cloaks about, For we must travel.
night-clothing n.
ΚΠ
1625 W. Payton in S. Purchas Pilgrimes I. iv. 494 (The Baluches demanded why that Truncke was brouhgt aboord againe) answere being made, that therein was the Ladyes night-cloathing.
1857 Harper's Mag. Nov. 831 When the rescued passengers reached New York they were in the utmost want,..many of the women having on only their night clothing.
1944 N. F. Miller & V. Bryant Gynecol. & Gynecol. Nursing iv. 57 A faint spotting noted on the underclothing or nightclothing may be the only symptom of an early carcinoma of the cervix.
† night-coif n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1578 in J. Nichols Progresses Queen Elizabeth (1823) II. 78 A night-coyf with a forehead clothe of..Spanysh worke of roses.
1653 N. Hookes Amanda 34 Prethie, Amanda, put thy night-coif on.
1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! v Lady Grenvile, putting her beautiful face in its night-coif out of an adjoining door.
† night decking n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iii. sig. Ii1v The best..night deckings.
night-draught n.
ΚΠ
1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy iii. 8 What a devil of an apothecary! to take so much blood—give such a vile purge—puke—poultice—plaister—night-draught—glister—blister?
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth I. vi. 122 Beside it stood a gold posset-dish to contain the night-draught.
1947 R. Pitter Pitter on Cats in Coll. Poems (1996) 201 Let her but get her Bellyful of Victuals, And a small Sup of Cow's Milk for her innoxious Night-Draught.
† night earring n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1731 Gentleman's Mag. 1 167 1 odd Night Ear-ring, with 3 Brilliant Diamonds.
† night-food n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1769 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (new ed.) III. iv. 191 (note) Neither was any body to fish from sun-setting to sun-rising, that the fish might enjoy their night-food.
† night-glove n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1603 in W. Fraser Memorials Montgomeries (1859) II. 250 For four par of night glouiss.
1835 F. Marryat Olla Podrida (1840) 271 Remove my night-gloves.
† night-habit n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1877 Scribner's Monthly Feb. 553 The baby..re-appeared fresh and beaming in a sort of sacerdotal Norse night-habit which was a miracle of neatness.
1897 E. L. Taunton Eng. Black Monks I. 78 He changed his night-habit for his day one and washed.
night-hood n.
ΚΠ
1647 R. Stapleton tr. Juvenal Sixteen Satyrs 84 Th' imperiall strumpet..stole out In her night-hoods.
1694 N. H. Ladies Dict. 11/2 A Surtout, is a Night-Hood, which goes over, or covers the rest of the head geer.
1890 ‘M. Field’ Tragic Mary iv. v. 176 You flutter like a star through widow'd black That night-hood round the pallor of your face.
night-hook n.
ΚΠ
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler iv. 121 This kind of fishing, and laying Night-hooks . View more context for this quotation
1772 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 62 153 After sunset, it is caught by a night-hook.
1821 Sporting Mag. 9 69 Night-hooks for pike.
night jacket n.
ΚΠ
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby viii. 65 Mrs. Squeers came in, still habited in the primitive night-jacket.
1992 Gazette (Montreal) 28 May a3 The dead woman, gagged and wearing only a torn night jacket and bathrobe, was tied spread-eagled across the master bed.
night-key n.
ΚΠ
1838 J. C. Neal Charcoal Sketches 136 The owner of the dog..took out his night-key, and walked up the steps.
1895 C. D. Warner Golden House i. 9 In one of the noble houses..sat Edith Delaney..listening for the roll of wheels and the click of a night-key.
night-latch n.
ΚΠ
1838 H. W. Herbert Cromwell II. iii. vi. 169 Turning the key with a wary hand, and dropping a strong night-latch, he returned.
1993 Pract. Householder Sept. 2/1 Nearly 30% of households have just a nightlatch on their front door, despite repeated warnings that burglars can easily open this type of lock.
† night mantle n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1525 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 206 Ane nycht mantile.
a1672 P. Sterry Appearance of God to Man in Gospel (1710) 261 The World is his Night-Mantle, his Pavilion of Darkness.
1858 New Englander (New Haven, Connecticut) Nov. 734 (stage direct.) Enter Florence from her bedchamber, in her night mantle.
night mask n.
ΚΠ
1630 M. Drayton Muses Elizium vii. 61 Fine night Maskes, plastred well within, To supple wrinckles, and to smooth the skin.
2000 New Straits Times (Malaysia) (Nexis) 6 July 7 Cool Pool also acts as a night mask to provide skin with immediate moisture.
† night-net n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1706 J. Evelyn Mem. for my Grand-son (1926) 25 Netts for Fish & Fowle should be kept under lock and key..and the pond and stews often raked and searched for night-netts and Hooks.
1764 Museum Rusticum (1765) 3 286 The game is wretchedly destroyed by poachers, who take it with night-nets.
night-pan n. now historical
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun] > bed-pan > for use at night
night-pan1809
1809 E. S. Barrett Setting Sun III. 145 The ‘Wise Men of the East’, bearing night-pans as censers.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 433 A warmed night-pan should be used to prevent the patient getting out of bed.
† night physic n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1632 P. Massinger Maid of Honour ii. ii. sig. E Which of your groomes..ministers Night phisicque to you?
night-quarters n.
ΚΠ
1643 Relation Taking of Cicester sig. A2v They all retreated to their night Quarters, in the Villages round about.
1788 ‘Explorator’ Travelling Memorandums in Bee 20 July (1791) 43 I go on, without any stop, except for fresh horses, till I chuse to put up for night-quarters.
1832 G. Downes Lett. from Continental Countries I. 271 I speculated..on what appeared to be a short cut to our night-quarters.
2001 Tampa (Florida) Tribune (Nexis) 27 June 2 Their handlers immediately called out to the rhinos..and the beasts headed for their night-quarters.
night refuge n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > accommodation or lodging > public lodging-places > [noun] > for homeless people
house of refuge1726
night sheltera1819
night refuge1840
tramp-house1850
straw yard1851
casual ward1861
casual1865
shelter1890
reception centre1896
tramp-cell1905
tramp-ward1906
Sally Ann1927
Sally1931
1840 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 3 215 Of 2,910 admissions into the Night Refuge connected with that Institution in Edinburgh, in July 1840, [etc.].
1911 Rep. Labour & Social Conditions in Germany (Tariff Reform League) III. 223 We also had a visit to the Berlin night refuge.
1997 Mirror (Electronic ed.) 1 Jan. Staff at Cork's only night refuge for vagrant women say last year brought a 50 per cent increase in teenagers under 18 seeking shelter.
night-sock n.
ΚΠ
1861 G. Müller Life of Trust 475 November... 6 pairs of night socks.
1906 J. Galsworthy Man of Prop. iii. iii. 305 To ask June whether she had worn night-socks up in those high hotels where it must be so cold of a night.
1994 Gazette (Montreal) (Nexis) 19 Mar. h1 The attendants hang up your coat for you and give you night-socks, ear-plugs and little blinders.
night-suit n.
ΚΠ
1888 R. Kipling Tods' Amendment in Plain Tales from Hills 170 He paddled out, in his little red flannel dressing-gown and his night-suit, and took refuge by the side of his father.
1939 C. Day Lewis Child of Misfortune 195 Oliver watched her fastening two children's night-suits.
2000 N.Y. Times Mag. 15 Oct. 52/2 We buy everything from Costco. Sweaters, baby's sweaters, baby's night suits.
night taper n.
ΚΠ
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. i. 161 The hony bagges steale from the humble Bees, And for night tapers, croppe their waxen thighes. View more context for this quotation
1894 ‘M. Twain’ Pudd'nhead Wilson xix. 251 The landing below was touched by a faint glow of light... Was his uncle still up? No,..he must have left his night-taper there when he went to bed.
1901 Atlantic Monthly Aug. 179/1 The night taper was flickering in its cup of oil.
† night-tavern n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1844 A. Smith Adventures Mr. Ledbury I. x. 126 There are no night-taverns, as in London.
night things n.
ΚΠ
1687 A. Behn Emperor of Moon i. ii. 14 Hither she must come anon, to lay the young Ladies Night-things in order.
1803 M. Charlton Wife & Mistress (ed. 2) I. 137 I stood upon the stairs with only my night-things on.
1990 A. Leonard Gate-crashing Dream Party (BNC) 38 I'd got no money, no night things, no spare clothes.
† night-tire n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1621 R. Brathwait Natures Embassie 102 Put a night-tyre on it's iuorie head.
† night-wig n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1862 C. Kingsley Water-babies i, in Macmillan's Mag. Aug. 280/1 When she had put her head out of the window, her night-wig fell into the garden.
night-wrap n.
ΚΠ
1582 N. Lichefield tr. F. L. de Castanheda 1st Bk. Hist. Discouerie E. Indias 12 The other had a night [w] rap of greene satten.
1882 Ballou's Monthly Mag. Aug. 149/2 One, two, three hours passed,..and found the wife shivering in her night-wraps by the half-open door.
night wrapper n. now historical and archaic
ΚΠ
1846 S. F. Cooper Elinor Wyllys I. x. 100 After they went up stairs, they would visit each other in what they called dress night-wrappers.
1863 A. D. T. Whitney Faith Gartney's Girlhood ix. 78 Miss Sampson entered..to put on her night-wrapper and make ready for her watch.
2001 ‘N. Roberts’ Midnight Bayou i As she slipped into her night wrapper, she remembered he would be back the next day.
c. Designating people, etc., who are active, at work, or on duty during the night.
night attendant n.
ΚΠ
1862 Year-bk. Med. 1861 (New Sydenham Soc.) 173 Robertson requires the night-attendants to visit all the habitually dirty patients at fixed times.
1968 Punch 14 Feb. 239 Donald Pleasance plays the night attendant at a central tissue-bank in Montreal.
† night-brawler n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) ii. iii. 189 You..spend your rich opinion, for the name Of a night brawler ? View more context for this quotation
1855 Putnam's Monthly Mag. Jan. 66/1 Why cannot men be peaceable on that great common? Or does nature in those fierce night-brawlers, the billows, set mankind but a sorry example?
night clerk n.
ΚΠ
1855 J. Holbrook Ten Years among Mail Bags 101 The night clerks..were generally a worthy and reliable class of gentlemen.
1981 ‘W. Haggard’ Money Men xv. 174 ‘Brighton?.. It's full of shonks.’... ‘Which means there are hotels with night clerks.’
night-comer n.
ΚΠ
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xix. 140 (MED) Men sholde Kepen it [sc. Christ's body] fro niȝt-comeres with knyȝtes y-armed.
1892 Atlantic Monthly July 28 Many flying night-comers, however, avoid the lamp.
1956 E. Ambler (title) The night-comers.
night editor n.
ΚΠ
1856 Ladies' Repository Sept. 540/2 The night editor expects important telegraphic dispatches, and he warns the foreman of the typesetters to hold back for them.
1973 R. L. Simon Big Fix (1974) xx. 174 Ask for the night editor.
† night fag n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. ix. 218 Hall and Brown were night fags last week.
night-farer n.
ΚΠ
1863 Times 16 June That most indefatigable and restless of night farers, the whip-poor-will.
1917 C. F. Horne tr. Al-Hariri Assemblies in Sacred Bks. & Early Lit. of East VI. iv. 158 Nor would tyranny be displayed by the impious Nor would the niggard shrink from the night-farer.
night feeder n.
ΚΠ
1833 J. Rennie Alphabet Sci. Angling 49 Most fish are peculiarly night-feeders.
1975 Limnol. & Oceanogr. 20 248/1 Their larvae were mainly night feeders.
† night-felon n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1777 R. Colvill Atalanta i. 12 The fiends..who..like night felons steal To thrall the unwary brave.
1813 W. Scott Rokeby vi. 277 All the nameless tools that aid Night-felons in their lawless trade.
night fiend n.
ΚΠ
1810 P. B. Shelley Posthumous Fragm. M. Nicholson 19 Can the fierce night-fiends rest on yonder hill?
1993 Scotsman (Nexis) 22 Apr. Night fiends will wholeheartedly agree with the night club section; Irvine says Edinburgh does not have any great nightclubs.
† night fury n. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > evil spirit or demon > [noun] > nightmare or nocturnal demon
mareeOE
nightmarec1300
witch1440
night fury1552
incubus1561
night spirit1562
hag1598
ephialtes1601
tenebrio1656
night spectre1707
nocturnal1861
witch-riding1883
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum at Hegges Hegges or nyght furyes.., which do sucke the bloude of children in the nyght, striges.
night-goer n.
ΚΠ
1642 W. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 302 The night goers cause some suspicion, and presage no good.
2001 Bangkok Post (Nexis) 16 Feb. 1 Mrs Kasama said that she was startled to find that many night-goers were junior high school students.
night guard n.
ΚΠ
a1629 J. Speed Prospect most Famous Parts of World (1646) 38 Each of them hath its tenne watchmen, for a night-guard.
1717 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad III. x. 147 Between the Trench and Gates, Near the Night-Guards, our chosen Council waits.
1888 Cent. Mag. Apr. 862/2 When finally they have lain down and are chewing their cud..the two night guards begin riding round them in opposite ways.
1976 Daily Times (Lagos) 22 Sept. 28/3 Night guards in Inalende Street in the city are also helping the police inquiries.
night hunter n.
ΚΠ
1789 G. White Nat. Hist. Selborne 25 The deer..are much thinned and reduced by the night-hunters.
1867 R. W. Emerson May-day & Other Pieces 50 In the boat's bows, a silent night-hunter.
1993 Air Gunner Nov. 15/2 A new range of lamping equipment..and with the evenings starting to close in, it's sure to prove popular with night hunters.
night inspector n.
ΚΠ
1849 C. Gibbons Let. 15 May in W. D. Lewis Brief Acct. Efforts Senator Cooper 28 James O'Rourke ‘is the boy’ for principal Night Inspector on the Schuylkill.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. iii. 18 Where they found the Night-Inspector.
1978 Washington Post (Nexis) 14 Feb. c1 The night inspector told me he thought the accident probably happened because the man was drunk.
† night-netter n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1764 Museum Rusticum (1765) 3 286 Not a single night-netter has been on his grounds on horse back.
night nurse n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > healer > nurse > [noun] > night nurse
night nurse1759
night-sister1886
1759 Standing Order's Westm.-Hosp. 25 Upon any Vacancy amongst the Day-Nurses, the senior Night-Nurse shall be preferred to be a Day-Nurse.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xxv. 309 The night-nurse..well beknown to Mrs. Prig the day-nurse.
1915 J. Lee Aunt Jane x. 52 It had become a happy part of the day's routine, as regular as the doctor's visit—or the night nurse's rounds.
2005 J. M. Coetzee Slow Man iv. 22 In turn Mrs Putts concedes that he need not engage a night nurse, as long as he registers himself with an emergency service and keeps a pager handy at all times.
† night-pad n. Obsolete see pad n.2
ΚΠ
1694 W. Burnaby tr. Petronius Satyr (new ed.) 11 You make a noise, thou Night-Pad?
night patrol n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > watching or keeping guard > [noun] > one who watches or keeps guard > one who patrols > body of
foot patrol1759
patrol watch1810
night patrol1814
1814 W. Scott Waverley II. xxiii. 354 The..officer..having sent out his night patrols, and posted his sentinels. View more context for this quotation
1864 J. T. Trowbridge Cudjo's Cave xxiii. 201 They discovered some horsemen drawn up before them beside the road. It was the night-patrol.
1993 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 June a15/6 The Turks began organizing night patrols after threats were made against the community by skinheads.
night people n.
ΚΠ
1903 C. D. Pierson (title) Among the night people.
1963 Times 8 Jan. 10/4 The ‘night people’, cleaners, maintenance men, and so on, who occupy the London Underground after the last train has gone.
1990 Sky Mag. Apr. 104 (heading) Party animals and night people photographed at the Paris menswear shows.
night person n.
ΚΠ
1971 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Doctor Bird i. 6 I am not a ‘night person’, and had no desire to see a..niterie.
2001 Mirror (Electronic ed.) 19 May I didn't get to bed till three, I never do. Last night was an early night, I'm a night person.
night-poacher n.
ΚΠ
1823 Edinb. Rev. Oct. 51 Night-poachers are transported for seven years.
1871 T. Hardy Desperate Remedies III. i. 6 One of the two he recognized as a well-known night-poacher, the man who had met him with tidings of his wife's death.
night police n.
ΚΠ
1861 Southern Literary Messenger 33 268 The night police wear the fatigue overcoat,..and a belt containing a brace of pistols and a night lantern.
1929 M. Callaghan in Oxf. Bk. Canad. Short Stories (1986) 53 When they put him doing night police he felt important.
night porter n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > other manual or industrial workers > [noun] > porter > types of
wine-porter1580
street porter1606
tackle-house porter1606
tackle-porter1607
sealed porter1631
ticket-porter1646
tub-woman1660
keep-door1682
Suisse1763
bamboo-coolie1800
hop-porter1812
plyer1826
night porter1841
fellowship1864
hall-porter1883
mobber1892
redcap1903
badgeman1904
bummaree1954
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xl. 164 He..plied the knocker of the Middle Temple gate. The night-porter looked through a small grating in the portal.
1887 in C. E. Pascoe Joyous Neighbourhood Covent Garden 126 (advt.) Rougemont hotel, Exeter... Night porter on patrol.
1991 M. Helprin Soldier of Great War 634 He was supposed to be an unseen night porter padding about the halls in felt-soled shoes.
† night professor n. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [noun] > secret adherent
Nicodemite1585
night professor1646
1646 J. Trapp Brief Comm. John vii. 50 Nicodemus was only a night professor, Judas in the sight of all.
night-prowler n.
ΚΠ
1813 Ld. Byron Giaour (ed. 3) 3 Rush the night-prowlers on the prey.
1984 J. Kelman Busconductor Hines iv. 161 The demolition men could even steal it themselves and say it had been stolen by nightprowlers.
night rambler n.
ΚΠ
1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. i. iv. 77 There is a pair of Stocks by every Watch house, to secure night ramblers in.
1853 G. P. R. James Agnes Sorel I. i. 10 A group of night-ramblers walked along.
1949 B. O'Reilly Green Mountain 24 A tiny night rambler in our timber is the dormouse possum.
night-robber n.
ΚΠ
a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland 115 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) Whereby theeves and night Robbers might be the more easily pursued.
1649 F. Roberts Clavis Bibliorum (ed. 2) 556 Edom shall be wholly spoiled, more then an house by Night-robbers.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iii. 142 The hardiness of the night-robber.
1843 H. W. Herbert Marmaduke Wyvil xiv. 69 I hope I have slain some one—for that one must have been either a night-robber or a spy.
night-shooter n.
ΚΠ
1814 G. Hanger To all Sportsmen 96 That desperate gang of night-shooters is totally broken up.
1982 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 18 Apr. ii. 32/3 Flash units should not be omitted from the night-shooter's arsenal, even though using flash will tend to remove the ‘natural look’ from a photograph.
night-sister n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > healer > nurse > [noun] > night nurse
night nurse1759
night-sister1886
1886 E. C. E. Lückes Hosp. Sisters & their Duties vi. 138 The Night Sister's object is to help the Day sister by giving the supervision to her patients and Nurses which the latter cannot exercise both night and day.
1992 L. Gordon Shared Lives xi. 264 His effect was like that of Night-Sister at the John Radcliffe when Olivia was born... ‘We expect things of you,’ she told the baby in bracing tones.
† night-sneaker n. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > man > [noun] > effeminate man
badlingeOE
milksopc1390
cockneyc1405
malkina1425
molla1425
weakling1526
tenderling1541
softling1543
niceling1549
woman-man1567
cocknel1570
effeminate1583
androgyne1587
meacock1590
mammaday1593
hermaphrodite1594
midwife1596
nimfadoro1600
night-sneaker1611
mock-mana1625
nan1670
she-man1675
petit maître1711
old woman1717
master-miss1754
Miss Molly1754
molly1785
squaw1805
mollycoddle1823
Miss Nancy1824
mollycot1826
molly mop1829
poof1833
Margery?c1855
ladyboy1857
girl1862
Mary Ann1868
sissy1879
milk1881
pretty-boy1881
nancy1888
poofter1889
Nancy Dawson1890
softie1895
puff1902
pussy1904
Lizzie1905
nance1910
quean1910
maricon1921
pie-face1922
bitch1923
Jessie1923
lily1923
tapette1923
pansy1926
nancy boy1927
nelly1931
femme1932
ponce1932
queerie1933
palone1934
queenie1935
girlie-man1940
swish1941
puss1942
wonk1945
mother1947
candy-ass1953
twink1953
cream puff1958
pronk1959
swishy1959
limp wrist1960
pansy-ass1963
weeny1963
poofteroo1966
mo1968
shim1973
twinkie1977
woofter1977
cake boy1992
hermaphrodite-
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > [noun] > person > male
franion1571
Corinthian1575
colt1584
libertine1584
tit1601
night-sneaker1611
highboy1667
man of the town1671
town bull1709
gay deceiver1710
Lothario1756
playboy1829
gay dog1847
girlie-man1897
lizard1935
player1968
mack daddy1991
1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words at Ciuettini Wanton or effeminate lads, night-sneakers.
night spectre n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > evil spirit or demon > [noun] > nightmare or nocturnal demon
mareeOE
nightmarec1300
witch1440
night fury1552
incubus1561
night spirit1562
hag1598
ephialtes1601
tenebrio1656
night spectre1707
nocturnal1861
witch-riding1883
1707 J. Stevens tr. F. de Quevedo Comical Wks. (1709) 55 A Spark, who boasted he did not fear any Spirits or Night-Specters.
1829 R. Southey Poet. Wks. 707 The night spectres shriek amid the midnight hour.
night spirit n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > evil spirit or demon > [noun] > nightmare or nocturnal demon
mareeOE
nightmarec1300
witch1440
night fury1552
incubus1561
night spirit1562
hag1598
ephialtes1601
tenebrio1656
night spectre1707
nocturnal1861
witch-riding1883
1562 W. Bullein Bk. Use Sicke Men f. lxx, in Bulwarke of Defence The verie cause is, liying or slepyng on their backe. And not through the Mare, or night spirit, as thei term it.
1656 T. Blount Glossographia at Larval Belonging to a night-spirit, goblin or masker, haggish, ghastly, dreadful.
1827 Metrical Ess. 118 Awake! awake, the night spirit calls.
2001 World & I (Nexis) June 172 Scholars believe that Lilith sprang from an array of ancient tributary sources, including lilitu, winged night spirits of Sumero-babylonian myth.
night-stabber n.
ΚΠ
c1820 S. Rogers Italy (1839) 97 To be proclaimed a ruffian, a night-stabber.
† night-talker n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1640 E. Reynolds Treat. Passions in Wks. (1679) 636 Night-talkers, who cannot be said to be thoroughly asleep, nor perfectly awaked.
night-thief n.
ΚΠ
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) John x. 10 A niȝt theef cometh not, no but that he stele and sle and leese.
1681 W. Robertson Phraseologia generalis (1693) 1082 Night-thieves, house-breakers.
1812 J. B. White Mod. Honor iv. 39 I seem to play the night-thief, and tremble, At that loved voice which once my ears enchanted.
2001 Express & Echo (Exeter) (Nexis) 3 July 4 (headline) Man who tackled night thief talks.
night tourist n.
ΚΠ
1963 L. Deighton Horse under Water v. 28 ‘They send me on a Night Tourist aeroplane.’.. ‘Don't be so class-conscious my boy.’
1971 P. Purser Holy Father's Navy xviii. 88 The last plane will have gone, anyway. Unless there are night tourist flights.
night traveller n.
ΚΠ
1802 R. Bloomfield Rural Tales 58 The lone night-trav'ler's fancy.
1989 S. Romain How to Live Safely (BNC) 22 Night vision is a powerful weapon available to every night traveller.
d. In the names of animals, birds, etc. (occasionally also figurative).
night beast n.
ΚΠ
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique vii. xliii. 872 The flesh of night beastes, that is to say, such as flie about in the night.
1886 H. S. Sutton Mount Perilous of Pride in Poems 37 Day, when it arrives, must fright away All night-beasts to their dens.
1995 J. Brockway tr. T. Doelwijt in S. Brown & J. Wickham Oxf. Bk. Caribbean Short Stories (1999) 251 After ten o'clock the night beasts gather together to whistle tori to each other, the whole night through.
night bug n.
ΚΠ
1846 Southern Q. Rev. Apr. 345 One of the smallest and sorriest night-bugs that infest and hover around the purlieus of literature and science.
1870 Riverside Mag. 3 59/2 The butterflies and dragon-flies had all gone to bed, and now the great night bugs and buzzing beetles were out.
1993 E. Iverem Time: Portrait of Journey Home i. 24 This still mountain night is not still... Night bugs—locusts, cicadas—are screaming.
† night cod n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1888 G. B. Goode Amer. Fishes 343 Sometimes a school of Codfish will bite at night; these the fishermen call ‘Night Cod’.
† night-crake n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1425 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 639 Nicticorax, nyghtcrake.
† night cur n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1576 A. Fleming tr. J. Caius Of Eng. Dogges 12 Farmers..call this kinde of Dogge a nyght curre, because he hunteth in the darke.
night dog n.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) v. v. 230 When night-dogges run, all sorts of Deere are chac'd.
1621 J. Fletcher et al. Trag. of Thierry & Theodoret i. i. sig. B3v Let night dogs teare me..Ere I forsake my sphere.
1824 J. Symmons tr. Æschylus Agamemnon 3 Like a night-dog still Fix'd to my post.
1976 Shooting Times & Country Mag. 18 Nov. 5/4 (advt.) Practical Trapping... A book on traps and trapping including the use of ferrets and night dogs.
night-fowl n.
ΚΠ
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 114 Þenicht fuwel flið binachte & biȝet in þeosternesse hire fode.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 126 Þe day excitiþ clene briddis and dayfoules..to singe..and feriþ a way nyȝtfoules.
a1668 W. Davenant Distresses iv. i. 51 in Wks. (1673) I guess it by The flutt'ring up and down of your night fowl, Something of Rapine or Revenge is near.
1830 Ld. Tennyson Mariana iii, in Poems 15 Waking she heard the nightfowl crow.
1926 J. Gray Sound The myriad cries of all his woodland throats, The mellow wondering the night-fowl hoots, And creeping morning's rapture trills.
† night gnat n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1510 J. Stanbridge Vocabula sig. Di Blatta, nyght gnat.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 248/1 Night gnat, singalle.
† night herring n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1758 R. Griffiths Descr. Thames 227 Fishers distinguish their Herrings into six different Sorts: As the Fat Herring,..the Night Herring which is of a middle Size.
night hound n.
ΚΠ
1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 30 The Constable..let loose a couple of his Night-hounds.
1998 P. Bland Sel. Poems 68 Night hound.
night-monster n.
ΚΠ
1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xxxiv. 14 The shrichowle [margin Or, night-monster] also shall rest there. View more context for this quotation
1838 J. P. Kennedy Rob of Bowl I. xii. 172 Reverend dam of night-monsters, I have in store for thee some most choice distillations.
1999 R. E. Guiley Encycl. Witches & Witchcraft (ed. 2) 15/2 One bowl from the 3rd century B.C. proclaims a ‘bill of divorce’ to the Devil and all his night-monsters.
night moth n.
ΚΠ
1791 E. Darwin Bot. Garden: Pt. I i. 201 Steep in ambrosial dews the Woodbine's bells, And drive the Night-moth from her honey'd cells.
1859 G. Meredith Ordeal Richard Feverel III. xi. 330 A large white night-moth flitted through the dusk.
1999 Dogs in Canada July 105/2 Their ears..are dropped or folded against their head, more like folded wings of the night moth.
night-sparrow n.
ΚΠ
1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes III. v. 995 There are night-sparrowes which flie by night onely.
1841 W. C. Bryant Poems (new ed.) 23/1 The night-sparrow trills her song, All night, with none to hear.
† night-steed n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1645 J. Milton On Christ's Nativity: Hymn xxvi, in Poems 12 The yellow-skirted Fayes, Fly after the Night-steeds, leaving their Moon-lov'd maze.
1799 T. Campbell Pleasures of Hope in Wks. (1837) 32 Chased on his night-steed by the star of day.
1806 T. G. Fessenden Poet. Dialogue 146 Let amateurs of wild romance, On Shakspeare's airy night-steed prance.
† night toad n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1681 T. Otway Souldiers Fortune v. i. 69 Get ye gone ye Dogs, ye Rogues, ye night Toads.
C4.
night-adapted adj. = dark-adapted adj. at dark n. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > sense organ > sight organ > types of sight organ > [adjective]
piercinga1400
piercive1567
narrow1587
lynceous1592
lyncean1622
telescopic1749
ferrety1801
pee pee1804
falcon-eyed1847
peepy1847
naked-bladed1856
gimlety1899
night-adapted1961
1961 I. Jefferies It wasn't Me! x. 132 When the moon was up I let an hour pass to make sure my eyes were night-adapted.
1998 News & Observer (Raleigh, N. Carolina) 25 Oct. a32 With sharp night-adapted eyes for unparalleled vision, [the owl]..has learned that there is a time to be silent.
night adder n. any of several nocturnal African vipers that constitute the genus Causus, esp. C. rhombeatus, a grey snake with darker patches, common in southern Africa.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Viperidae (vipers) > member of genus Causus (night adder)
night adder1816
nachtslang1821
1816 G. Barker Jrnl. 12 July in Dict. S. Afr. Eng. on Hist. Princ. (1996) 505/3 Worked at my peice [sic] of Land, Killed the first serpent I had seen alive in Africa, called a Night Adder.
1832 Graham's Town Jrnl. (S. Afr.) 23 Mar. 50 A man in the service of Mr. Bailie was last week bitten in the leg by a night adder.
1947 J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. xxxvi. 329 I have often seen my cats eating night adders which they have caught and killed.
1969 J. Stidworthy Snakes of World 128 The Night Adder (Causus rhombeatus) is found in southern Africa.
night-ape n. [in sense A. 4a(b) after Afrikaans nagapie nagapie n.] (a) = night monkey n.; (b) South African = bush-baby n. at bush n.1 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > order Primates > suborder Anthropoidea (higher primates) > [noun] > family Cebidae > genus Aotus (night-monkey)
douroucouli1821
night-ape1863
owl-faced monkey1863
night monkey1877
owl monkey1877
1863 H. W. Bates Naturalist on River Amazons II. v. 315 A third interesting genus of monkeys, found near Ega, are the Nyctipitheci, or night-apes.
1895 A. B. Balfour 1200 Miles in Waggon 87 This morning I saw two fascinating little creatures in a tree, like lemurs or small monkeys... They are popularly called ‘Night-Apes’.
1959 C. Lagus Operation Noah 175 Also known as Bushbabies and Nightapes, Galagos are delightful little lemur-like animals.
1988 P. O'Brian Let. of Marque ix. 282 They spoke at some length about the night-ape, the capybara, the bearded marmoset.
night bag n. a travelling bag used to carry things needed for the night; = overnight bag n. at overnight adv., n., and adj. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > a journey > [noun] > luggage > travelling bag > hand-held
mailc1275
clothesack1393
cloak-bagc1540
portmanteau1553
valance?a1562
pockmanty1575
cap-case1577
cloak-bearer1580
night baga1618
valisea1630
toilet1656
Roger1665
shirt case1823
weekend case1827
carpet-bag1830
holdall1851
handbag1859
suitcase1873
sample case1875
gripsack1877
case1879
grip1879
Gladstone (bag)1882
traveller1895
vanity-case1913
luggage1915
revelation1923
two-suiter1923
overnight bag1925
one-suiter1933
suiter1933
overnight case1934
Samsonite1939
flight bag1943
Pullman1946
grip-bag1958
overnighter1959
carry-on1960
Vuitton1975
go bag1991
a1618 J. Sylvester tr. Bethulians Rescue in tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Diuine Weekes & Wks. (1621) 1012 In Iudith's hand his grim and ghastly Head; Which soon her Handmaid in her Night-bag hid.
1691 London Gaz. No. 2666/4 A White Dimity Night-Bag..in which was Linnen, and other things.
1833 F. A. Butler Jrnl. 13 Apr. (1835) II. 170 This boat is furnished with half a dozen state rooms... Into one of these our night-bags were conveyed.
1966 ‘W. Haggard’ Power House v. 50 A guard..handed him the night bag. ‘You'll need that on the journey.’
night-bat n. (a) Caribbean (Barbados and Guyana) a bat; (b) now literary a ghost, a bogey; (c) chiefly Jamaican, a large night-flying moth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > ghost or phantom > [noun]
soulOE
huea1000
ghostOE
fantasyc1325
spiritc1350
phantomc1384
phantasmc1430
haunterc1440
shadowa1464
appearance1488
wraith1513
hag1538
spoorn1584
vizarda1591
life-in-death1593
phantasma1598
umbra1601
larve1603
spectre1605
spectrum1611
apparitiona1616
shadea1616
shapea1616
showa1616
idolum1619
larva1651
white hat?1693
zumbi1704
jumbie1764
duppy1774
waff1777
zombie1788
Wild Huntsman1796
spook1801
ghostie1810
hantua1811
preta1811
bodach1814
revenant1823
death-fetch1826
sowlth1829
haunt1843
night-bat1847
spectrality1850
thivish1852
beastie1867
ghost soul1869
barrow-wight1891
resurrect1892
waft1897
churel1901
comeback1908
1603 J. Florio tr. M. de Montaigne Ess. i. xxii. 46 There were found diverse populous nations;..as also of grasse-hoppers, pissemires, lizards, and night-bats [Fr. chauvessouriz].
1658 tr. S. de Cyrano de Bergerac Satyrical Characters xii. 47 I send..the Hob-goblins, the haggs, the night bats.
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II. 577/1 Night-bat, a ghost. North.
1894 J. Barlow End of Elfintown 35 By the Night-bat's shriek!
1961 F. G. Cassidy Jamaica Talk xiii. 295 Bat or night-bat is usually reserved for the far more impressive moths that fly at dusk and by night, some of which are very large.
1996 R. Allsopp Dict. Caribbean Eng. Usage Night-bat, (Bdos) [= bat, any of the flying mammals of the order Chiroptera].
† night blain n. Obsolete rare a chilblain.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > suppuration > [noun] > a suppuration > blain or chilblain
blainc1000
kibe1387
mulea1400
hekec1450
chilblain1547
bloody fall1601
night blain1601
night-foe1601
pernio1676
perniosis1896
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 37 Bloudie-falls or night blains.
† night-blood n. Obsolete blood taken from a patient at night for microscopic examination.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > diagnosis or prognosis > tests > [noun] > materials tested
blood film1856
blood sample1873
blood1890
night-blood1894
smear1903
swab1903
phantom1922
cervical smear1944
1894 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 23 418 It would be as well to prepare two complete sets of slides, one of day blood, the other of night blood.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 1084 56 slides of night-blood from 56 cases of elephantiasis.
night boat n. (a) a passenger boat or ferry which travels at night; †(b) a boat used at night (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessels with other specific uses > [noun] > others spec.
weir-boat1436
monkey boat1813
night boat1839
commodore1847
sneak-boat1850
pitch-boat1867
press boat1870
love boat1913
patrol craft1919
refueller1929
gin palace1949
bumboat1972
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel for transporting people or goods > [noun] > ferry > types of
toni1582
horse-boat1591
bac1676
ferry bridge1696
rope-ferry1755
pont1776
ferry flat1805
steam-ferry1812
steam ferry-boat1812
night boat1839
bar-boat1857
train ferry-boat1867
car ferry1884
grind1889
swinging-bridge1892
train ferry1900
night ferry1948
SeaCat1954
walla-walla1957
1839 F. Marryat Diary in Amer. I. iv. 79 I re-embarked at midnight in the steam-boat descending from Albany, and which is fitted out as a night boat.
1843 S. C. Hall & A. M. Hall Ireland III. 276 There is also a more cumbrous vessel called a ‘night-boat’.
1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed ix. 179 They were going by the Dover night-boat.
1987 E. Anthony No Enemy but Time (BNC) 5 They wouldn't expect her to travel on the night boat from Liverpool.
night bolt n. an inside bolt used to secure a door at night.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > [noun] > bolt or bar
shuttle971
barc1175
esselc1275
slota1300
sperel13..
ginc1330
staple-bar1339
shotc1430
shuttingc1440
shutc1460
spar1596
counter-bar1611
shooter1632
drawbar1670
night bolt1775
drop-bolt1786
snibbing-bolt1844
stay-band1844
window bar1853
heck-stower1876
barrel bolt1909
latch bolt1909
panic bolt1911
1775 T. Jefferson Memorandum Bks. 6 July (1997) I. 401 P[ai]d. Bringhurst for 3. brass night bolts 27/.
1862 Internat. Exhib.: Illustr. Catal. Industr. Dept. II. xxxi. §5978 Mortise balance night bolt, and an improved night-latch.
night bomber n. (a) an aircraft used or designed to drop bombs at night; (b) the pilot of such an aircraft.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > airman > [noun] > bomber
night bomber1918
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > [noun] > used in warfare > bomber
raider1908
bomber1917
night bomber1918
dart1925
bomb-dropper1928
flying boxcar1932
bombing plane1934
bomber aircraft1935
medium bomber1935
dive-bomber1937
heavy1943
nuisance raider1944
shuttle bomber1944
atomic bomber1945
interdictor1965
stealth1979
1918 Flying 4 Sept. 221 (caption) A British night-bomber photographed by searchlight.
1919 R. H. Reece Night Bombing with Bedouins 57 These calculations are all important to the long-distance night bomber.
1975 Listener 13 Mar. 335/1 Scheduled air services began on 25 August 1919..using ten- and 12-seated converted night bombers.
night bombing n. the dropping or detonation of bombs at night.
ΚΠ
1919 R. H. Reece Night Bombing with Bedouins (title) Night bombing with the Bedouins.
1940 J. Colville Diary 26 June in Fringes of Power (1985) 171 The Germans seem to have no training in night bombing.
1989 J. Beech One WAAF's War (BNC) 98 The efficiency and use of Bomber Command aircraft in the night bombing of Germany.
† night-book n. Obsolete (probably) an account book recording financial transactions conducted during the evening; cf. daybook n.
ΚΠ
1809 Sporting Mag. May 56/2 Suffering his name to remain upon the debtor side of a night-book for years.
1850 R. Reece Whittington, Junior, & Sensation Cat i. 6 Alder. Let's see your books. Phil. Now for a grand inspection! Fitz. (flinging books) There! Day book, ledger, afternoon book, night book.
night-bound adj. confined or impeded by night or darkness.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > [adjective] > detained by night or darkness
night-bounda1879
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > enveloped in dark of night > confined by night or darkness
night-bounda1879
a1879 F. R. Havergal Poet. Wks. (1884) I. 146 Reason waits, Like those in days of yore, Who rose not from their night-bound place, On dark Egyptian shore.
1925 A. S. M. Hutchinson One Increasing Purpose i. xxvi. 161 As if the phrase were a path on which, nightbound and groping, he suddenly had stumbled.
1954 L. MacNeice Autumn Sequel 123 From my seat I see my night-bound double, slumped apart On a conveyor belt.
night box n. a small nightclub; = boîte de nuit at boîte n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > nightlife > [noun] > nightclub
finish1796
café chantant1854
nightclub1871
bottle party1903
lokal1903
cabaret1912
boîte1922
supper club1927
nitery1929
hot spot1930
spot1930
clip-joint1933
nightspot1936
night box1938
Nachtlokal1939
partouze1959
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eating place > [noun] > eating-house or restaurant > with entertainment
café chantant1854
night box1938
theatre-restaurant1958
1938 New Statesman 23 July 154/1 I have very rarely been overcharged in France (except in the grotesque night-boxes of Montmartre).
1973 ‘E. McGirr’ Bardel's Murder iv. 108 Night boxes..came and they went, and the more crowded the more successful.
night-butterfly n. a moth (quot. 1743 refers to the luna moth, Actias luna).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Caradrinidae > phalaena luna
night-butterfly1743
OE Antwerp Gloss. (1955) 79 Blatta, nihtbutorfleoge.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 188 The night Butterflye, that flyeth about the candell.
1743 M. Catesby Nat. Hist. Carolina (1754) II. 84 The four-eyed Night Butterfly..(Phalæna Luna).
1997 R.-M. Rejouis & V. Vinokurov tr. P. Chamoiseau Texaco (1998) 24 They would throw night-butterflies blind from the sun at the children.
nightcart n. a cart used for the collection and removal of night soil.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > emptying or cleaning of privies > [noun] > cart
nightcart1642
midnight cart1698
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > cart, carriage, or wagon > cart or wagon for conveying goods > [noun] > types of > wagon or cart for specific articles > for removing night-soil
nightcart1642
1642 in W. Thornbury Haunted London (1865) 385 Paid to the same for the night-cart and cover..£7 9s.
1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) II. 451/1 Who drive the night-carts to and from..the cesspools.
1986 Austral. Geogr. Apr. 98/2 Len Bates, one of Sydney's few remaining nightcart men, has been collecting and emptying pans from..about 70 unsewered homes.
† night-cat n. Obsolete rare (apparently) an obstacle intended to impede the movement of cavalry (see quot. 1863).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > barricade > [noun] > anti-cavalry barrier
turnpikec1420
caltrop1519
harrow1548
chausse-trap1591
swine feather1639
swine's pike1639
crowfoot1678
cheval de frise1688
horse de frise1688
hersillon1704
herse1728
crow's foot1772
trou-de-loup1780
cheval-trap1787
frise1809
spear1823
punji stake (or stick)1849
night-cat1863
1863 W. N. Massey Hist. Eng. IV. xxxiv. 102 The prisoners were charged with having provided arms, and instruments called night-cats, for impeding the action of cavalry in the streets.
night chain n. a chain for securing a door at night.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of door > [noun] > door fittings > devices for securing door
pinlOE
door-pina1300
door-bar13..
sneck1324
clicket-lock1342
haggaday1353
stecklea1400
slotec1440
rance1574
door-latch1678
door-locka1684
steeple1722
box staple1778
door-chain1836
chain1839
safety chain1845
door-catch1897
night chain1904
1904 E. Glasgow Deliverance 45 He had fastened the night-chain and shot the heavy bolt.
1973 ‘E. McBain’ Let's hear It xiv. 205 Kling heard the night chain being slipped off, the lock turning.
† nightchurr n. English regional Obsolete rare = nightjar n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Caprimulgiformes (nightjars, etc.) > [noun] > family Caprimulgidae > member of genus Caprimulgus > caprimulgus europaeus (nightjar)
goat-milker1611
goatsucker1611
nighthawk1611
nightjar1630
dor-hawk1668
churn-owl1674
fern-owl1678
goat owl1766
eve-jara1793
puckeridgea1793
moth-hunter1816
wheel-bird1817
jar-owl1832
nightchurr1837
night-swallow1840
eve-churr1861
wheeler1862
scissors-grinder1875
puck1878
spinner1885
1837 W. Macgillivray Hist. Brit. Birds III. 633. Caprimulgus europæus,..night churr.
1855 W. S. Dallas in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature III. 343 It is to this note that the bird is indebted for its name of Nightjar or Nightchurr.
night climb v. intransitive (chiefly at Oxford and Cambridge Universities) to climb on buildings at night.
ΚΠ
1937 ‘Whipplesmith’ Night Climbers of Cambr. xv. 178 First, why did we start night climbing?
night climber n. a person who engages in night-climbing.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > learner > college or university student > [noun] > types at specific universities
son?c1550
Bibler1569
round cap1572
batteler1604
fellow commoner1614
gentleman-commoner1614
primar1642
Bible-clerk1650
Harry-Sopha1661
hodman1677
nobleman1682
seconder1684
grueller1691
ternar1698
tuft1755
red gowna1774
ten-year-man1816
prick-bill1818
bear1828
martinet1831
sheep1865
trotter1883
skiver1884
hall-reader1886
sign-off1902
night climber1937
techie1969
1937 ‘Whipplesmith’ Night Climbers of Cambr. i. 6 Every college has its night climbers.
1968 J. M. White Nightclimber iv. 28 I had repeated the whole series of safaris among the tiles and chimneypots pioneered by the Night-climbers.
night-climbing n. the activity of climbing on buildings at night.
ΚΠ
1937 ‘Whipplesmith’ Night Climbers of Cambr. ii. 9 Night climbing is a better term to describe the sport it represents than roof-climbing.
1968 J. M. White Nightclimber iv. 27 I didn't realise you were interested in night-climbing.
night clock n. now chiefly historical a clock fitted with an interior light which illuminates the face at night.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [noun] > other types of clock
watch-clock1592
German clock1598
quarter clocka1631
wheel-clock1671
table clocka1684
month clock1712
astronomical clock1719
musical clock1721
repeater1725
Tompion1727
pulling clock1733
regulator1735
eight-day clock1741
regulator clock1750
French clock1757
repetition clock1765
day clock1766
striker1778
chiming clock1789
cuckoo-clock1789
night clock1823
telltale1827
carriage clock1828
fly-clock1830
steeple clock1830
telltale clock1832
skeleton clock1842
telegraph clock1842
star clock1850
weight-clock1850
prison clock1853
crystal clock1854
pillar scroll top clock1860
sheep's-head clock1872
presentation clock1875
pillar clock1880
stop-clock1881
Waterbury1882
calendar-clock1884
ting-tang clock1884
birdcage clock1886
sheep's head1887
perpetual calendar1892
bracket clock1894
Act of Parliament clock1899
cartel clock1899
banjo-clock1903
master clock1904
lantern clock1913
time clock1919
evolutionary clock1922
lancet clock1922
atomic clock1927
quartz clock1934
clock radio1946
real-time clock1953
organ clock1956
molecular clock1974
travelling clock2014
1823 S. W. Morton My Mind & its Thoughts 86 Those who at Cynthia's melancholy hour, While the slow night-clock knells its mournful sound—Have waked to weep.
1911 F. J. Britten Old Clocks & Watches (ed. 3) v. 266 A night clock..is of ebony on oak, and the top lifts off to allow the insertion of a lamp. Showing through a curved slit in the upper part of the dial is a disc with perforated hour numerals so that the time can be seen at night. The light would also shine through a keyhole-shaped aperture above which serves as a pointer.
1972 Times 7 Nov. 25/4 (advt.) A rare 17th century night clock, by Edward East, London.
night-cloud n. cloud occurring at night; a mass of such cloud.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > [noun] > a cloud > stratus
night-cloud1799
stratus1803
stratus cloud1813
1799 C. Lamb Let. 23 Jan. in Lett. C. & M. A. Lamb (1975) I. 159 Sometimes the moon on soft night-clouds to rest.
1862 Chambers's Encycl. III. 86 Stratus, fall or night-cloud,..is a widely extended horizontal sheet.
1896 Science 4 Dec. 830/2 The luminous night clouds, about which there has been some discussion within the past few years, were observed by Maignan..in 1648.
1992 C. P. Estés Women who run with Wolves v. 136 From the Banshee, in her carriage made of night-cloud, to La Llorona, the weeping woman at the river.
night coach n. (a) a coach that travels at night; (b) U.S. an aeroplane used to provide a night service (see also day coach n. 2b).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > public service vehicle > [noun] > stagecoach or mail coach > that travels at night
night coach1766
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > [noun] > aircraft for goods or passengers
liner1905
tramp1905
airliner1908
taxi1909
taxi plane1909
air ferry1916
air freighter1919
passenger plane1919
air taxi1920
freighter1920
flying boxcar1932
ferry1939
shuttle plane1944
day coach1945
feeder liner1946
charter1959
night coach1959
1766 E. Griffith Double Mistake i. ii. 5 The night coach was setting off for London, at that moment.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xi. 144 The night-coach had a punctual character.
1959 Wall St. Jrnl. 7 Oct. 8/4 Standard first class Miami-New York fare oneway is $80.80, regular daycoach is $54.55 and regular nightcoach is $46.80.
1960 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 6 Jan. A National Airlines night coach flying non-stop from New York to Miami crashed with 34 persons aboard.
1989 R. Border Ghost Stories (BNC) 66 The night coach went off the road.
night commode n. a small bedside cupboard or set of drawers, esp. one with a place to hold a chamber pot; (also) a commode (commode n. 4a); cf. close-stool n.
ΚΠ
1811 Ipswich Jrnl. 16 Nov. (advt.) To be sold by auction..The entire Household Furniture, and Effects..comprising two 4-post bedsteads,..bedside carpets, mahogany night commode, dressing chest drawers, [etc.].
1870 T. Inman On Restoration of Health xxvii. 221 In fever hospitals many patients die from walking to the water-closet, or even sitting up on the night commode.
1909 Scotsman 13 May 12/6 The remaining cabinetmaker's stock,..Including..chests drawers, night commode, coal cabinet, iron combination beds, [etc.].
1980 Times 1 July (Europa Suppl.) p. iv/5 The social services have also paid for a wheelchair, a raised lavatory seat, a night commode in the bedroom, bath rails, [etc.].
2007 F. González-Crussi Short Hist. Med. (2008) vii. 169 According to it [sc. the journal], the Sun King spent a great deal of time sitting on the chaise-percée, the night commode.
night cream n. cosmetic cream that is applied to the face at night.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the skin or complexion > [noun] > preparations for the skin or complexion > unguents or moisturizers
oil of talc1582
slick1626
cold cream1709
cream1765
amandin1861
face cream1889
skin food1892
skin cream1894
orange-flower skin food1908
violet cream1912
day cream1915
vanishing cream1916
night cream1926
orange skin food1926
baby oil1930
hormone cream1938
moisture cream1957
moisturizer1957
mousse1971
1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 496/2 Day Cream... Massage Cream... Night Cream.
1993 Enroute (Air Canada) Feb. 22/1 There are a lot more consumers—male and female—who are willing to pay $65 for a couple of ounces of face-lifting, skin-smoothing night cream than McLellan first thought.
night dial n. now historical (a) the illuminated dial or face of a night clock; (b) an instrument which measures the time at night by means of the moon or stars; = nocturnal adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [noun] > part(s) of > dial or markings on dial
tablea1400
dial1440
watch1588
punctilio1596
dial platea1652
recliner1652
dial piece1658
face1659
horary circle1664
night dial1670
horizontal dial1674
hour-stroke1674
hour-plate1690
clock face1764
niche1822
1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) i. 36 The night dyall shewing by a lighted lamp set behinde it, the houres of the night.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Dial Nocturnal or Night-Dial, is that which shews the Hour of the Night.
1890 Cent. Dict. at Dial Night or nocturnal dial, a dial for showing the time by means of the moon's shadow, a rough calculation from the moon's age being used.
night drive n. a journey by motor vehicle at night.
ΚΠ
1837 Southern Literary Messenger 3 a700 The following story..told by a fellow stage-passenger of our author, to beguile the weariness of a night drive.
1843 H. W. Herbert Deerstalkers ii. 39 He pulled up..and..the friends jumped to the ground, their night-drive pleasantly concluded.
1992 Highlife (Brit. Airways) Nov. 44/3 I can definitely recommend Mashatu Lodge..where night-drives with spotlights help track down the elusive prince of cats.
night-drive v. intransitive to drive a motor vehicle at night (rare).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > driving or operating a vehicle > drive a vehicle [verb (intransitive)] > drive or operate a motor vehicle > in specific circumstances
to drink and drive1944
night-drive1956
stunt-drive1966
1956 This Week 29 July 11/2 If you must night-drive, keep the dash-lights as dim as possible—this particular glare is hypnotic.
night driver n. a person who drives a vehicle at night, esp. as an occupation.
ΚΠ
1944 Russ. Rev. 3 90 A respectable hotel in a quiet street in Paris. Its owner..had consented..to take in a young Russian emigré working as a night driver.
1990 ‘J. Gash’ Very Last Gambado (1991) xi. 106 Night drivers have two-way radios and presser bleeps.
night-driving n. the driving of a motor vehicle at night.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > driving or operating a vehicle > [noun] > driving or operating a motor vehicle > in specific manner
overspeeding1888
left-hand drive1908
speeding1908
night-driving1909
hell-driving1936
drunk driving1937
slipstreaming1957
drink-driving1964
stunt-driving1975
1909 G. B. Shaw Let. 4 Nov. (1972) II. 883 Night driving as distinguished from returning home for the end of an afternoon drive.
1962 L. S. Sasieni Princ. & Pract. Optical Dispensing xiii. 327 There have been introduced from time to time certain glasses said to increase vision in low illumination—and so-called night-driving glasses.
1991 Which? May 286/2 Night-driving, and driving on busy roads, should be included in your tuition.
† night-eater n. Obsolete a flea.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Siphonaptera or fleas > [noun] > member of (flea)
fleaa700
lop1480
night-eater1626
jumper1771
bed-flea1774
siphonapteran1842
1626 N. Breton Fantasticks sig. C4 The Innes now begin to prouide for ghests, and the night-eaters in the stable pinch the Trauailer in his bed.
night effect n. irregularity of the strength and direction of received radio waves of certain frequencies that is especially marked at night, owing to the reception of polarized waves reflected by the ionosphere; an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > [noun] > signal > obstruction or poor reception
blind spot1864
screening1902
fading1912
night effect1914
night error1921
wipeout1921
skip1925
radio fade-out1927
fade-out1937
1914 R. Stanley Text-bk. Wireless Telegr. x. 114 The difference between day and night effects on the transmitted ether energy might possibly be caused by a change in the position of the upper conducting layer of atmosphere.
1932 F. E. Terman Radio Engin. xvi. 591 Since the sky wave is always strongest at night the errors that result from downcoming horizontally polarized waves are frequently referred to as ‘night effects’ although they are always present to some extent in daytime.
1988 M. Agazarian Instrument Flying (BNC) 75 Night Effect causes serious bearing errors and interference between stations.
night error n. error in the strength and direction of received radio waves (esp. as affecting aircraft bearings) caused by night effect.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > [noun] > signal > obstruction or poor reception
blind spot1864
screening1902
fading1912
night effect1914
night error1921
wipeout1921
skip1925
radio fade-out1927
fade-out1937
1921 Flight 13 664/1 Aircraft..should not ask for bearings from Carnsore, as such bearings..will probably be unreliable on account of the effect of the coastline, the night error in particular being of considerable magnitude.
1936 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 40 161 These wave-lengths are subject to night error which affects the accuracy of bearings taken on medium wave direction finders.
1991 FlyPast (BNC) Nov. 51 The Report criticised the crew of the Croydon for not doing more to rectify the compass problems.., but it implied that the Darwin W/T station should not have stated the bearings of ‘night error’.
night eye n. (a) an eye able to see or adapted for seeing in the dark (usually in plural); (b) U.S. = chestnut n. 5.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > sense organ > sight organ > types of sight organ > [noun]
ferret-eye1590
squirrel eyes1600
hawk's eye1684
piercer1752
gimlet-eye1825
lynx-eye1828
bug-eyes1905
camera eye1908
night eye1934
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [noun] > leg > foreleg > chestnut (knob of skin on)
chestnut1859
castor1888
night eye1934
1934 Q. Rev. Biol. 9 209 Some eyes are fixed as day-eyes, with much pigment; some as night-eyes, with little pigment.
1948 Sat. Evening Post 29 May 116/1 Six photographs are taken—a front view, side view and close-ups of the horse's four ‘chestnuts’, or ‘night eyes’, which are the rough protrusions of scaly, hardened skin that are on the inner side of each leg.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring ii. ix. 402 It was dark, but not too dark for the night-eyes of Orcs.
1977 Time 21 Nov. 46/3 The only foolproof form of identification is comparison of the chestnuts, or night eyes—horny growths on the inside of the legs.
1989 S. Romain How to live Safely (BNC) 22 Car headlamps are a different matter: they wreck night vision immediately. The simple answer is to close the same eye whenever a car approaches; that is your ‘night eye’.
night-eyed adj. capable of seeing in the dark (in quot. 1605, at the expense of daylight vision).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > types of vision > [adjective] > able to see at night
night-eyed1605
nocturnal1840
nyctalope1848
1605 B. Jonson Sejanus v. i. 363 I dare tell you..That our Night-ey'd Tiberius doth not see His Minions driftes. View more context for this quotation
1838 R. Southey Madoc ii. xxvi, in Poet. Wks. V. 376 The night-eyed insect tribes Wake to their portion of the circling hours.
1999 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (Nexis) 6 Mar. 7 b April 15 creeps up on us in the dark, staring like some kind of night-eyed beast.
† night-farmer n. Obsolete a person who takes away night soil; cf. gong farmer n. at gong n.1 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > emptying or cleaning of privies > [noun] > one who
gong farmerc1302
dung farmer1546
nightman1579
jakes farmer1591
jakes barreller1596
lantern-man1599
gold-finder1611
poleman1615
night-farmer1620
jakesman1630
1620 T. Middleton & W. Rowley World Tost sig. C2 'Tis a poore liuing... Schol. [glossed Sol.] 'Tis somewhat better then the night-Farmer yet.
1647 W. Lilly Christian Astrol. cxlix. 633 He makes Night-farmers, Slaughter-men, sweepers of channels, &c.
night-feeding adj. and n. (a) adj. that feeds (mainly) at night; (b) n. the process of feeding at night.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [adjective] > feeding by night
night-feeding1838
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eating by animals > [noun]
reliefc1425
pabulation1623
marshing1778
night-feeding1838
ovesting1903
1838 J. Kenyon Moonlight in Poems 20 The placid hours When Thou wert whitening his night-feeding flocks On Yemen's happy hills.
1840 R. Martineau Feats on Fiord (1875) v. 71 The multitude of eider-ducks, and other sea fowl..began their night-feeding and flying.
1988 G. Palmer Politics of Breastfeeding iii. 21 He therefore advocated only four feeds at regular intervals in twenty-four hours and forbade night feeding.
1990 Salt Water Sportsman Dec. G/2 You also might hook into such oddities as night-feeding soapfish, golden grouper, [etc.].
night fighter n. (a) a fighter aircraft used or designed for use at night; (b) the pilot of such an aircraft.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > airman > [noun] > fighter pilot > of plane used at night
night fighter1941
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > [noun] > used in warfare > fighter
chaser1915
pursuit aeroplane1915
skyfighter1915
fighter1917
pursuit airplane1917
pursuit plane1918
flycatcher1924
pursuit aircraft1928
pursuiter1928
night fighter1941
dogfighter1943
parasite jet fighter1948
1941 Aeronautics Jan. 41/3 The effective range of fire of night fighter aircraft will have to be increased.
1942 Tee Emm (Air Ministry) 2 85 Particularly important this for night-fighters.
1993 Guardian 24 July 28/1 Bundles of foil strips dropped by the bombers baffled the radar on which German flak and night fighters depended.
night fighting n. fighting, esp. aerial combat, conducted at night.
ΚΠ
1933 Meccano Mag. Feb. 109/1 Night fighting consists chiefly of individual attacks at close range.
1947 J. G. Crowther & R. Whiddington Sci. at War 60 The radar air interception equipments, used in the early night-fighting battles.
1991 U.S. News & World Rep. 11 Mar. 42/3 The Americans also went equipped for night fighting.
† night-foe n. Obsolete rare (a) a chilblain; (b) a nocturnal enemy or aggressor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > suppuration > [noun] > a suppuration > blain or chilblain
blainc1000
kibe1387
mulea1400
hekec1450
chilblain1547
bloody fall1601
night blain1601
night-foe1601
pernio1676
perniosis1896
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xx. xx. 70 Coriander..cureth the night-foes or chilblanes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 (1623) iv. iii. 22 To defend his Person from Night-foes . View more context for this quotation
night fossicker n. Australian (now historical) a nocturnal thief of gold dust or quartz.
ΚΠ
1853 C. R. Read Austral. Gold Fields 150 The man was what they called a night fossicker, who slept, or did nothing during the day, and then went round at night to where he knew the claims to be rich, and stole the stuff by candle-light.
1867 J. S. Borlase (title) The night fossickers.
night-fossicking n. rare the activity of a night fossicker.
ΚΠ
1889 Cent. Dict. Night-fossicking.
† night-hooker n. Obsolete rare a person who steals by night.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun] > who steals at night
nightbird1548
night-hooker1601
night-snapa1625
moonman1632
nighthawk1800
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xix. iv. 12 These slie theeves and night-hookers..committed such fellonious outrages.
night horse n. (a) chiefly Australian and U.S., a horse used for work at night; (b) = nightmare n. (a punning alteration).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > dream > [noun] > nightmare
bitch daughter?c1475
nightmare1562
hag1598
nightmare dream1763
daymare dream1796
night horse1840
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > work horse
workhorse1463
cuta1529
farm horse1732
night horse1840
1840 N. P. Willis Romance of Trav. i. 17 The well-groomed night horses—(a pair of smart, hardy, twelve-mile cabs, all bottom but little style).
1904 Bulletin (Sydney) 8 Dec. 19/3 When cattle have ‘rushed’..Wheelbarrow, like every other night horse, takes simultaneous action.
1925 J. Farnol Loring Myst. xlii. 283 ‘Talking o' bed,’ quoth Mr. Shrig.., ‘do you ever dream —— d'ye ever have the night-'orse?’
1937 Dial. Notes 6 618 The night horse is one staked near the cowpuncher's bed for immediate use in some such emergency as a stampede.
1959 C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 81 The capital was a night-horse dream.
1982 D. Harris Drovers of Outback 58 I had an old night horse which seemed to sense trouble and if the cattle were quiet he would get very ‘toey’ [glossing restive].
night jasmine n. either of two shrubs with flowers which are fragrant at night: (a) Nyctanthes arbor-tristis (family Oleaceae), native to South-East Asia; (b) Cestrum nocturnum (family Solanaceae), native to the West Indies (also called lady of the night).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental trees and shrubs > [noun] > jasmine
jasmine1548
Indian mourner1597
jesse1597
makebate1597
sad tree1597
shrub trefoil1597
sorrowful tree1597
double pipe-tree1629
jessamy1631
mogra1662
melancholy tree1760
night jasmine1866
sampaguita1902
pikake1933
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 796/2 Nyctanthes, Arbor tristis, the Night Jasmine of India, is a shrub or small tree of the Jasminaceæ.
1881 G. W. Cable Mme. Delphine ix. 49 The bush of night-jasmine.
1949 L. H. Bailey Man. Cultivated Plants (rev. ed.) 874 C[estrum] nocturnum, L. Night Jessamine..fls. greenish-white to cream-colored, very fragrant at night... W. Indies.
1966 P. Sherlock W. Indian Folk Tales 100 A cool breeze..laden with the perfume of logwood-trees, wild mint, and the heavy sweetness of night jasmine.
1989 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 6 May 21/6 Cestrum nocturnum, the night jessamine and dracaena fragrans..are normally grown for foliage display, but when allowed to bloom they can make the garden pleasurable at night.
night-lair n. now rare an animal's overnight resting place, spec. (Scottish) †among crops belonging to a person other than the animal's owner (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > [noun] > folding sheep > fold or pen
sheepfolda1430
caul1483
boughta1522
sheep-garth1570
wool-hurdle1586
barkary?1592
sheep-pen1649
ovil1674
night-lair1688
turnip-tray1805
sheep-ree1817
stow1856
dead-fold1897
sheep-camp1911
check-pen1922
1688 Rec. Barony Court Holmains 25 Jan. All breach of neighberhood..as to..nightlairs on meadow and corne.
1857 J. Raine Mem. J. Hodgson I. 287 Sheep-folds, or night-lairs as they were called.
1906 C. M. Doughty Dawn in Brit. V. xviii. 77 For now is roused the swine, from her night-lair.
night lark n. (a) a bird that sings at night; esp. the sedge warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus (now rare); †(b) a person who goes out at night, esp. to socialize; cf. night owl n. 2 (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun] > one who brings or likes night or darkness
owlc1390
night-waker?c1475
nightbird1548
night wanderer1576
night owl1594
noctifer1667
night larka1770
nighthawk1868
a1770 T. Chatterton Compl. Wks. (1971) I. 84 Thou mayste heare the swotie nyghte larke chaunte.
1776 F. N. C. Mundy Needwood Forest ii. 17 Now the wak'd reed-birds swell their throats, And night-larks trill their mingled notes.
1821 T. Shoel Poems Var. Subj. 54 Hear the night-lark's soft melodious lay.
1836 Parterre of Fiction V. 249/1 These fine metaphysics..don't explain to me the reason of your being in the street at this hour singing away there like a night-lark.
1845 C. E. Wright Wyoming xvii. 65/2 ‘A young night lark,’ said Summers, ushering him into the room, ‘late home from some neighbour's daughter, I've no doubt.’
1850 Househ. Words 6 Apr. 27/2 Saloons and night-larks, owing for.
1895 G. Meredith Amazing Marriage I. xxiii. 258 Night-larks of different classes, both sexes.
1908 H. Lea Vermilion Pencil i. i. 28 The wood-warbler with cadences of silvery notes; now rising, exultant as the nightlark, to the ear of heaven.
2005 M. D. O'Brien Sophia House ii. 32 The night larks calling to each other, the stars beyond counting and very bright.
night-lizard n. any of various mainly nocturnal geckoes or other lizards; now usually: spec. (a) a nocturnal lizard of the genus Xantusia or family Xantusiidae, of south-western North America and parts of Central America; (b) (in parts of the Caribbean) the house gecko Hemidactylus mabouia, a pale-skinned gecko with large, lidless eyes.
ΚΠ
1842 W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art 1227/2 Thecodactylus, a subgenus of night-lizards or geckoes.
1933 Amer. Midland Naturalist 14 246 An Arizona representative of this sly little night lizard [sc. Xantusia vigilis] was found..in the semi-desert country..on the inside of a dead yucca plant.
1966 R. C. Stebbins Field Guide Western Reptiles & Amphibians 120 Island Night Lizard Klauberina riversiana... A large night lizard confined to islands off the coast of s[outh] California.
1991 J. Allen Biosphere Two 54 The desert night lizard..is one of the few lizards to bear young by placenta birth rather than hatched eggs.
1996 R. Allsopp Dict. Caribbean Eng. Usage 609/2 Night-lizard (USVI [= U.S. Virgin Islands]).., a type of gecko or house lizard with a pale, almost translucent skin..regarded by many with superstitious fear.
† night lying n. Obsolete rare bedtime.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun] > bedtime
bedtimea1250
night lying?1456
sleeping time?1456
sleepy-time1862
?1456 W. Worcester in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 129 John Sadler..told me how they auaunted of it when he of Lynne came by hym at nyȝt lyeng.
† night-magistrate n. Obsolete rare a constable.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > law enforcement > law-enforcement or peace-officer > [noun] > constable
sub-constable1512
beagle1559
harman-beck1567
John?1576
clarigold1597
officer1597
constable1600
redbeard1607
Robin Hoga1682
Moabite1699
night-magistrate1699
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Night-Magistrate, a Constable.
night monkey n. any of several nocturnal monkeys of the Central and South American genus Aotus (family Cebidae), which have large eyes and black and white facial markings; also called douroucouli, owl monkey.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > order Primates > suborder Anthropoidea (higher primates) > [noun] > family Cebidae > genus Aotus (night-monkey)
douroucouli1821
night-ape1863
owl-faced monkey1863
night monkey1877
owl monkey1877
1877 J. B. Holder Hist. Amer. Fauna in J. Richardson et al. Museum Nat. Hist. III. p. xvii/1 The Douroucouli (Nyctipithecus trivirgatus)—The term Nyctipithecus in this group refers to their nocturnal habits, meaning literally, Night-Monkey.
1896 H. O. Forbes Hand-bk. Primates I. 152 The Night-Monkeys are small and elegant animals covered with long hair.
1992 Cambr. Encycl. Human Evol. (1994) iv. v. 161/1 Many nocturnal primates—such as lemurs, lorises, bushbabies and night monkeys—have dark eye-mask patterns.
night office n. chiefly Roman Catholic Church a part of the canonical office or monastic cycle of prayer traditionally performed during the night; spec. matins.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > canonical hours > compline > [noun]
night-songOE
complinea1225
completoryc1450
completorium1625
completes1658
night office1706
1706 in D. Cotes tr. L. E. Dupin New Eccl. Hist. (1725) II. v. 43 He says..that the Name Mattins is very improperly given to the Night-Office..; that the Night-Office is divided into three Nocturns, which are said at three different times.
1867 C. Walker Ritual Reason Why 201 The cowl is a loose vestment worn over the frock in the winter season and during the night office.
1957 F. L. Cross Oxf. Dict. Christian Church 960/1 Night office, another name for Mattins, the liturgical office prescribed for the night.
1996 Independent 13 Mar. ii. 28/5 For two hours from 11.45pm you are required to sing the Night Office in a procession through the long dark cloisters.
† night-old adj. Obsolete done, gathered, etc., on the previous day.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a day or twenty-four hours > [adjective] > of or done on the previous day
night-oldeOE
pridian1656
eOE Laws of Ine (Corpus Cambr. 173) lxxiii. 120 Gif hit bið niht eald þiefð.
c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. vii. 292 Laboureris þat haue no land..Deyneþ nouȝt to dyne a day niȝt olde wortis.
night op n. = night operation n.; usually in plural.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > [noun] > other operations
combined operation1834
night operation1835
police action1855
night op1916
special operation1917
island-hopping1944
jungle-bashing1954
special op1963
psy-op1965
1916 W. Owen Let. 6 Apr. (1967) 388 We had ‘Night Ops.’ yesterday till 9.30!
1991 W. Fox Willoughby's Phoney War (BNC) 65 ‘Training for what? Night Ops?’ ‘Er..yes, sir.’
night operation n. a plan of action, esp. a military or security operation, conducted at night.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > [noun] > other operations
combined operation1834
night operation1835
police action1855
night op1916
special operation1917
island-hopping1944
jungle-bashing1954
special op1963
psy-op1965
1835 D. P. Thompson May Martin ix. 124 The boy..proceeded slowly and cautiously..at some little distance from where the money diggers were assembling for their night operations.
1915 R. W. Campbell Private Spud Tamson xiii. 167 Any chapter on training must also refer to night operations, generally called Night Attacks.
1989 Guardian (BNC) 31 Dec. The first group [of refugees] was sent home in a widely criticised night operation two weeks ago.
night paddock n. Australian and New Zealand a field where stock, esp. dairy cows, are kept overnight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > grassland > [noun] > pasture > enclosed pasture
ham901
green yard1418
pasture field1464
ward1473
butt1542
paddock1547
septuma1552
staff1786
camp1877
night paddock1922
run-off1933
1922 V. Palmer Boss of Killara 124 He stole softly over the dewy grass of the night-paddock.
1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Jan. 71/2 Night paddocks on dairy farms showed least response [to potash topdressing].
1966 Te Reo 9 54 The apparently Australian innovation lies..in the adoption of the refined terminology of the home paddock and the night paddock.
night parrot n. †(a) the flightless kakapo, Strigops habroptilus, of New Zealand (obsolete); (b) a rare, nocturnal, green and yellow ground parrot, Geopsittacus occidentalis, of the Australian interior.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Psittaciformes (parrots, etc.) > [noun] > genus Geopsittacus (night parrot)
ground-parrot1794
night parrot1847
ground parakeet1865
1847 Proc. Zool. Soc. 50 Ka-ka-po or Night Parrot.
1875 Nature 30 Dec. 175/2 The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include..a Night Parrot (Stringops [read Strigops] habroptilus) from New Zealand.
1913 Emu 13 16 The Night-Parrot (Geopsittacus occidentalis).
1934 Bulletin (Sydney) 9 May 21/1 The night parrot..continues to hide itself from human ken, and is always referred to either as the elusive parrot or mystery bird.
1990 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 21 Oct. 5/4 A freak discovery of a carcass of the mysterious night parrot..is the first confirmed recording of the bird this century.
night partridge n. U.S. regional the American woodcock, Scolopax minor.
ΚΠ
1888 G. Trumbull Names & Portraits Birds 153 Dr. G. B. Grinnell..tells us that the woodcock is known to some in the seaboard counties of Virginia as Night Partridge.
1951 Amer. Speech 26 278 Folk names alluding to nocturnal activity include..three names for the woodcock (nightflit, N.C.; night partridge, Md., Va., N.C., Ontario, and night peck, Ontario).
night post n. (a) an evening or night-time postal delivery or service; (b) Military a soldier's night-time position or station; also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1818 A. M. Woodforde Let. 13 Dec. (1932) iv. 213 Your letter I received by the last night post.
1829 J. F. Cooper Wept of Wish Ton-Wish vii. 110 Had one happened to pass at a later hour than common near the night-post of than gentle-spoken soldier, he would not have been found like a sentinel of this household.
1852 G. Grote Hist. Greece IX. ii. lxx. 124 Taking up their night-post at a distance..from the Grecian position.
1990 A. R. Ammons in Really Short Poems 90 (title of poem) Night post.
night primrose n. = evening primrose n..
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > evening primrose and allied flowers
tree primrose1629
primrose tree1728
Onagra1735
oenothera1754
night primrose1759
evening primrose1761
night willow-herb1770
nightly primrose1785
sundrop1785
godetia1836
1759 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. (ed. 7) at Œnothera Tree Primrose... From the Flower opening in the Evening, many Persons call it the Night Primrose.
1849 J. Craig New Universal Dict. Nightprimrose, the plant Œnothera biennis is so called, because its flowers usually open between six and seven o'clock in the evenings.
1931 A. Huxley Cicadas 12 Your pallid beauty Like a pale night-primrose.
night-rest n. rest taken at night.Quot. OE could alternatively be interpreted as showing the sense ‘a bed on which to rest at night’ (compare rest n.1 1b).
ΚΠ
OE Genesis A (1931) 2864 Þa se eadga Abraham sine nihtreste ofgeaf [L. de nocte consurgens].
a1425 (c1300) Archbishop & Nun (Ashm.) in J. Small Eng. Metrical Homilies (1862) 79 That might he nouther ete..Ne haue night rest.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iv. i. 17 Domesticke awe, Night-rest, and Neighbour-hood. View more context for this quotation
1883 E. F. Im Thurn Among Indians Guiana x. 217 The men, having slept at intervals during the day, do not need night-rest.
1962 Yearbk. Human Rights 1960 (United Nations) 324/2 Article 4 of this legislative decree fixes the duration of the night rest of women and children.
2001 A. N. Shukla & R. Tyagi Encycl. Birds 182 The use of nests for night rest..is wide-spread in birds.
night-runner n. now rare a person who is active at night, esp. for criminal purposes; cf. night-walker n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > ruffianly conduct > ruffian > [noun] > frequenting streets > at night
night-walker1422
night-runner1670
scourer1672
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [noun] > violent treatment or force > frequenting streets > at night
night-walker1422
nightcap1623
night-runner1670
scourer1672
1670 J. Marquette Let. in J. D. G. Shea Discov. & Explor. of Mississippi Valley p. liv Those seen by me are of apparently good disposition; they are not night-runners like the other Indians.
1951 J. Masters (title) Nightrunners of Bengal.
2000 Irish Times (Nexis) 13 Jan. In Kenya there is a widespread belief in ‘nightrunners’, a breed of terrifying witch that preys on people at night, banging on doors and roofs.
night safe n. a safe built into the outside wall of a bank, into which money, etc., may be deposited when the bank is closed.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > place for keeping money > money box or chest > [noun] > safe
safe1668
safe deposit1768
salamander safe1840
box1891
pete1909
keister1913
night safe1930
pete box1930
1930 W. Thomson Dict. Banking (ed. 7) 501/2 Night safes, in order that customers may deposit cash or cheques after a bank has closed for the day or for the week-end, night safes were introduced in 1928. The entrance to these safes is in the outside wall of the bank, the opening being fitted with a locked cover to which customers who wish to avail themselves of the safe are supplied with a key.
1984 F. Forsyth Fourth Protocol i. 10 He feared the couple in the Jaguar might pause to drop the diamonds into the night safe.
night scope n. a night-vision telescope, used esp. as the telescopic sight of a rifle; cf. night-sight n. (b), scope n.3 b.
ΚΠ
1977 Time 23 May 33/2 It's got a night scope that can pick up targets a mile away using infra-red light.
1994 Independent on Sunday 19 June 10/8 Advances in conservation technology (infra-red night scopes and remote control video cameras which observe the kiwi's comings and goings) have helped.
2000 N. DeMille Lion's Game liv. 639 In a minute or so, I was sighting down this really nifty night scope that made everything look green.
night-sight n. (a) the faculty or power of seeing in the dark; (b) a gunsight designed for shooting at night; an image intensifier.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > [noun] > blindness > night-sight or day-blindness
nyctalopia1684
hemeralopia1706
night-sight1822
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > parts and fittings of firearms > [noun] > sight > types of
dispart1578
telescopic sight1674
plain sight1686
aim-frontlet1745
hausse1787
foresight1806
gloaming sight1817
night-sight1822
bead1831
leaf1832
backsight1847
globe sight1847
pendulum hausse1850
hindsight1851
tangent scale1859
tangent1861
tangent backsight1862
training pendulum1862
training level1863
peep sight1866
dispart-sight1867
notch sight1867
buck-horn1877
orthoptic1881
aperturea1884
pinball-sighta1884
dispart patch1884
sight bar1884
flap-sight1887
barley-corn1896
ring sight1901
riflescope1902
spotting scope1904
tangent sight1908
Aldis sight1918
wind-sight1923
scope sight1934
gyro-sight1942
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > types of vision > [noun] > ability to see at night or in the dark
night vision1822
night-sight1972
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. III. 200 Nyctalopia has necessarily been made to import day-sight, instead of night-sight.
1915 Chambers's Jrnl. Apr. 269/2 The night-sight does not interfere with the ordinary front-sight for daylight shooting.
1971 Guardian Weekly 6 Nov. 12 Our marksman..saw him clearly through his night-sight.
1972 B. Everitt Cold Front xv. 143 My night-sight is good and I drove on side-lights only.
1992 Independent 10 Dec. 12/2 A little later, cameramen with night-sights announced that they could see a large ship approaching.
night singer n. a bird or (occasionally) an insect that sings at night.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > sound or bird defined by > [noun] > bird that makes sound
singing bird1565
songbird1573
whistler1590
singer1626
songster1656
songstress1684
poeta1748
squeaker1808
twitterer1815
night singer1816
song-fowl1877
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Sylviidae (warbler) > [noun] > genus Acrocephalus > species schoenobaenus (sedge warbler)
reed-sparrow1676
chat1704
sedge-bird1738
willow-lark1769
sedge-warbler1776
reed-bird1782
sedge-wren1802
night singer1816
sedge reedling1837
mockingbird1883
fisherman's nightingale1884
sally picker1885
1816 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. xxiv. 401 The Fulgoræ appear to be night-singers.
1840 Penny Cycl. XVI. 230/1 The Nightingale, or night singer, is a migratory bird.
1882 Cent. Mag. Jan. 361/1 In this country the mocking-bird is the only regular night-singer we have.
1940 E. T. Seton Trail of Artist-naturalist 224 The night singer of the Assiniboine, was neither more nor less than the white-throated sparrow.
night snake n. any of various nocturnal colubrid snakes, esp. those belonging to the genus Hypsiglena of Central and North America.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > [noun] > unspecified and miscellaneous types of
worm-kinc893
slow-wormOE
hagworm?c1475
salpege1569
scytale1572
house snake1608
porphyre1608
ellops1667
sea-serpent1672
tree-serpent1731
boyuna1763
whip-snake1774
garter-snake1775
switch-snake1791
argus-snake1802
rat snake1818
skaapsteker1818
sea-snake1827
short-tail1879
roof-snake1884
brown snake1896
herald-snake1910
night snake1918
parrot snake1931
1918 Copeia 61 83 An example of the little spotted night snake..was recently secured.
1954 J. A. Pringle Common Snakes 12 Olive Night-Snake..non-venomous..is a quiet, docile snake..mainly confined to the coastal belt from Cape Town to north of Durban.
1995 C. Mattison Encycl. Snakes vi. 120/1 North American scorpions..also take larger snakes on occasion, including the night snake, Hypsiglena torquata.
† night-snap n. Obsolete rare a night-thief.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun] > who steals at night
nightbird1548
night-hooker1601
night-snapa1625
moonman1632
nighthawk1800
a1625 J. Fletcher Chances ii. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Aaa3v/2 These fellowes Were night-snaps.
nightspot n. colloquial a place to socialize at night, esp. a nightclub.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > nightlife > [noun] > nightclub
finish1796
café chantant1854
nightclub1871
bottle party1903
lokal1903
cabaret1912
boîte1922
supper club1927
nitery1929
hot spot1930
spot1930
clip-joint1933
nightspot1936
night box1938
Nachtlokal1939
partouze1959
1936 Swing Music Mar. 9/1 The management at the Friar's Inn, well-known Chicago night spot, was very anxious to feature this new type of music.
1959 F. Usher Death in Error i. 18 They went to a night spot..where they drank champagne.
1994 Face Oct. 89/1 Disco, funk, soul, hip hop,..rock jangle—stuff you hear blasting from passing car radios..and subterranean nightspots.
night star n. (a) a star in the night sky; (b) = evening star n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > star > [noun] > specific time
night star1595
Hesper1623
folding-star1747
the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > inferior planet > [noun] > Venus > as evening star
evenstarOE
Hesperusc1374
eve stara1387
vesper1390
evening star1535
night star1595
Vesperugo1600
shepherd's lamp1827
1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile Ded. Earl Sussex Great Lord, to whom infinitiues of fame Flock like night starres about the siluer Moone.
1680 E. Settle Female Prelate ii. ii. 23 Thou wanderers Night-Star and Believers Sun of Glory.
1811 P. B. Shelley St. Irvyne ii. 48 Till the night-stars shone through the cloudless air.
1838 E. Cook Away from Revel iv It is twilight; the night-star is up.
1992 C. McCarthy All Pretty Horses (1993) iv. 272 A shallow basin of water, perfectly round, perfectly black, where the night stars were lensed in perfect stillness.
night starvation n. hunger at night; (figurative) lack of sexual gratification.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > [noun] > sexual gratification > lack of
night starvation1936
1936 ‘G. Orwell’ Keep Aspidistra Flying xii. 311 What they asked for was a really telling slogan; something in the class of ‘Night-starvation’..that would rankle in the public consciousness.
1949 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 3) Add. 1119/1 Night starvation, sexual deprivation, lack of sexual intimacy.
1971 D. Lees Rainbow Conspiracy viii. 117 It wasn't as if I was suffering from night starvation. Val was easily one of the best screws in the business.
1993 A. Murray Only Two can Share (BNC) ‘Suffering from night starvation, are you?’ Somehow the comment, which should have been entirely innocent, seemed loaded with an undercurrent of meaning.
night-stock n. now rare = night-scented stock n. at night-scented adj. Compounds.
ΚΠ
1851 A. A. Watts Lyrics of Heart 48 When grey Twilight weaves her web,..In thy ‘garden-plot’ I see thee stand, Watching the ‘night-stock's’ leaves expand.
1918 D. H. Lawrence New Poems 33 The night-stock oozes scent.
night-stool n. a commode for use at night; = night-chair n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun] > close-stool or commode
privy stool1377
night-chair1404
close-stool1410
stool1410
chamber stool1567
night table1730
night-stool1781
commode1802
Sir John1808
chamber closet1842
chaise percée1939
thunder-box1939
1781 in P. C. Moore Inventory Hartlebury Castle (1960) 74 Housekeeper's Bed Chamber—A Night Stool.
1786 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 76 310 The fæces passed directly from the ileum into the night-stool.
1854 E. Ronalds & T. Richardson Knapp's Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 246 Each cell..contains a gas-burner and a night-stool.
1995 Jrnl. Asian Stud. 54 118 (caption) Two nightstools leaning against the wall reveal that the houses lack sanitary fixtures.
night storage heater n. an electric heater in which heat can be accumulated at night (when electricity is cheaper) and released during the day.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > that which or one who heats > [noun] > a device for heating or warming > devices for heating buildings, rooms, etc. > operated by stored heat
storage heater1894
block heater1958
block-storage heater1960
night storage heater1963
night storage radiator1970
1963 Good Housek. Setting up Home iii. 30 Electric night storage heaters. These are electric heaters which..absorb and store heat during the night when off-peak rates for electricity are available, releasing it during the day.
1990 G. Collard DIY Home Surveying (BNC) 109 If electric night storage heaters are installed, check that they are included in the sale.
night storage radiator n. = night storage heater n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > that which or one who heats > [noun] > a device for heating or warming > devices for heating buildings, rooms, etc. > operated by stored heat
storage heater1894
block heater1958
block-storage heater1960
night storage heater1963
night storage radiator1970
1970 House & Garden Mar. 94/3 The eight-hour-charge night-storage radiators..are able to store enough heat to give an even heat output for the rest of the day.
2001 Jrnl. (Newcastle) (Nexis) 3 Feb. 38 Number 29 St Giles Close is a two bedroomed apartment with night storage radiators.
night-stored adj. (esp. of heat stored in a night storage heater) accumulated overnight.
ΚΠ
1962 Daily Tel. 20 Aug. 16/2 (heading) Night-stored heat from electricity.
night-swallow n. English regional the nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Caprimulgiformes (nightjars, etc.) > [noun] > family Caprimulgidae > member of genus Caprimulgus > caprimulgus europaeus (nightjar)
goat-milker1611
goatsucker1611
nighthawk1611
nightjar1630
dor-hawk1668
churn-owl1674
fern-owl1678
goat owl1766
eve-jara1793
puckeridgea1793
moth-hunter1816
wheel-bird1817
jar-owl1832
nightchurr1837
night-swallow1840
eve-churr1861
wheeler1862
scissors-grinder1875
puck1878
spinner1885
1840 Penny Cycl. XVI. 223/2 Night-Jars, the English name of those Night-Swallows vernacularly termed Goat-suckers.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 97 Nightjar... Night swallow. Because it catches insects on the wing.
1968 C. E. Jackson Brit. Names of Birds 59 Nightjar..night-swallow Devon, Surrey.
night terrors n. (a) gen. fears experienced during the night, or their causes; (b) Medicine (also night terror), a sleep disorder in which a person (esp. a child) suffers terrifying nightmares or wakes suddenly in the night in a state of inexplicable terror; this state of terror.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of terror or horror > [noun] > terror > children's sleeping terror
night terrors1827
pavor nocturnus1889
1827 T. C. Grattan High-ways & By-ways 3rd Ser. II. v. 230 I have passed over, without an attempt at describing it, the torturing day he passed, because it was indescribable; and I only glance at his night terrors.
1842 W. Wordsworth Guilt & Sorrow xvii, in Poems Early & Late Years 13 Kind pious hands did to the Virgin build A lonely Spital, the belated swain From the night terrors of that waste to shield.
1892 J. Royce Spirit Mod. Philos. 241 Night-terrors, of a known pathological type.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 218 Many excellent monographs on night terrors have appeared.
1937 Discovery Dec. 369/1 It would be easy to dismiss these stories as mere figments of the black man's night-terrors.
1986 Sunday Times 4 May 9/2 Night terrors are generally phenomena of the early night, arising during very deep, slow-wave sleep.
night trader n. a person who trades by night; spec. †a prostitute (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > a prostitute
meretrixOE
whoreOE
soiled dovea1250
common womanc1330
putec1384
bordel womanc1405
putaina1425
brothelc1450
harlot?a1475
public womanc1510
naughty pack?1529
draba1533
cat1535
strange woman1535
stew1552
causey-paikera1555
putanie?1566
drivelling1570
twigger1573
punka1575
hackney1579
customer1583
commodity1591
streetwalker1591
traffic1591
trug1591
hackster1592
polecat1593
stale1593
mermaid1595
medlar1597
occupant1598
Paphian1598
Winchester goose1598
pagan1600
hell-moth1602
aunt1604
moll1604
prostitution1605
community1606
miss1606
night-worm1606
bat1607
croshabell1607
prostitute1607
pug1607
venturer1607
nag1608
curtal1611
jumbler1611
land-frigate1611
walk-street1611
doll-common1612
turn-up1612
barber's chaira1616
commonera1616
public commonera1616
trader1615
venturea1616
stewpot1616
tweak1617
carry-knave1623
prostibule1623
fling-dusta1625
mar-taila1625
night-shadea1625
waistcoateera1625
night trader1630
coolera1632
meretrician1631
painted ladya1637
treadle1638
buttock1641
night-walker1648
mob?1650
lady (also girl, etc.) of the game1651
lady of pleasure1652
trugmullion1654
fallen woman1659
girlc1662
high-flyer1663
fireship1665
quaedama1670
small girl1671
visor-mask1672
vizard-mask1672
bulker1673
marmalade-madam1674
town miss1675
town woman1675
lady of the night1677
mawks1677
fling-stink1679
Whetstone whore1684
man-leech1687
nocturnal1693
hack1699
strum1699
fille de joie1705
market-dame1706
screw1725
girl of (the) town1733
Cytherean1751
street girl1764
monnisher1765
lady of easy virtue1766
woman (also lady) of the town1766
kennel-nymph1771
chicken1782
stargazer1785
loose fish1809
receiver general1811
Cyprian1819
mollya1822
dolly-mop1834
hooker1845
charver1846
tail1846
horse-breaker1861
professional1862
flagger1865
cocodette1867
cocotte1867
queen's woman1871
common prostitute1875
joro1884
geisha1887
horizontal1888
flossy1893
moth1896
girl of the pavement1900
pross1902
prossie1902
pusher1902
split-arse mechanic1903
broad1914
shawl1922
bum1923
quiff1923
hustler1924
lady of the evening1924
prostie1926
working girl1928
prostisciutto1930
maggie1932
brass1934
brass nail1934
mud kicker1934
scupper1935
model1936
poule de luxe1937
pro1937
chromo1941
Tom1941
pan-pan1949
twopenny upright1958
scrubber1959
slack1959
yum-yum girl1960
Suzie Wong1962
mattress1964
jamette1965
ho1966
sex worker1971
pavement princess1976
parlour girl1979
crack whore1990
1630 P. Massinger Picture sig. B4v All kinds of females, from the night-trader I' the streete..To the great Lady in her Cabinet.
1783 H. B. Dudley Magic Picture i. ii. 9 Thou, by thy own report, Ricardo,..Hast studied every rank, from the night trader I' th' street..To the gay high-flier in the cabinet.
1991 B. Okri Famished Road (1992) iii. iii. 201 I came upon a cluster of Hausa night traders who sold Indian incense, beads, perfumes, and charms.
† night-tree n. Obsolete rare a South or South-East Asian tree said to flower at night (usually identified as night jasmine, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > unidentified or variously identified > [noun]
whittenOE
medicaa1398
hulder1545
lote-tree1678
sadore1681
night-tree1849
1849 in R. Southey Common-place Bk. 2nd Ser. 494/1 (heading) The singadi, or night-tree.
1860 S. Lover Flower of Night in Metrical Tales End-note The Singadi, or Night-Tree of Sumatra, puts forth flowers at sunset and throughout the night, which fade after sunrise.
† night-tub n. Obsolete a tub containing night soil; also figurative as a term of abuse.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun] > chamber-pot, etc.
jordan1402
pissing vessel1440
pisspot1440
urinalc1475
pissing basin1481
piss bowlc1527
chamber vessel?1529
chamber pot1540
pot1568
jordan-pot1577
night-tub1616
looking-glassa1627
water-pot1629
chamber utensil1699
member-mug1699
utensil1699
pot de chambre1777
chanty1788
pig1810
piss bucket1819
chamber1829
jerry1859
po1880
thunder-mug1890
article1922
potty1937
honeypotc1947
totty-pot1966
piss-tin1974
1616 B. Jonson Epigrammes cxxxiii, in Wks. I. 815 As at the muster Of all your night-tubs, when the carts doe cluster.
1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre iv. v. 64 in Wks. II You rid that weeke, and broake out the bottome o' the Cart, Night-tub.
1843 J. F. Cooper Ned Myers ix. 110 We worked in gangs of six, digging and passing up the dirt into the night-tubs. These tubs we were permitted to empty, every morning.
1867 E. C. Wines & T. W. Dwight Rep. Prisons U.S. & Canada 95 They [sc. prison cells] are furnished with bed, night tub, water bucket, and gas burner.
night warbler n. any of various birds that sing at night; spec. (English regional) the reed bunting, Emberiza schoeniclus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > [noun] > family Emberizidae > subfamily Emberizinae (bunting) > genus Emberiza > emberiza schoeniclus (reed-bunting)
reed-sparrowa1500
junco1706
nettle-monger1712
night warbler1739
willow-nightingale1774
reed bunting1776
ring bird1837
ring fowl1840
toad-snatcher1848
1739 W. Broome Poems (ed. 2) 33 Hark! the Night Warbler from yon vocal Boughs Glads every Valley with melodious Woes!
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Maine Woods (1864) 322 List of birds which I saw in..1857..A swallow; the night-warbler? once or twice.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 27 The name of night warbler is also given to this bird [sc. the reed-bunting], because its cry may be heard at almost all hours.
1968 C. E. Jackson Brit. Names of Birds 65 Reed-warbler..night warbler.
night water n. now U.S. regional water which collects or is stored during the night; (also) urine passed at night.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > water > [noun] > which collects or is stored at night
night water1799
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 504 A drain half a mile long, and a reservoir for the night-water.
1874 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 319 On the supposition that..the night-water was saved.
c1938 in H. M. Hyatt Hoodoo (1970) II. 1162 You kin break that up by using the stuff that is known as your night water, and with vinegar.
1968 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1996) III. 808/2 [Kentucky] One reason this sticks out in my mind is that both my grandparents used ‘night water’.
† night-weed n. poetic Obsolete rare (perhaps) = nightshade n.1 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > unidentified or variously identified plants > [noun]
smearwortc725
evenlesteneOE
hovec1000
hindheala1300
vareworta1300
falcc1310
holwort1350
spigurnela1400
rush?a1425
buck's tonguec1450
lich-walec1450
lich-wortc1450
vine-bind1483
finter-fanter?a1500
heartwood1525
wake-wort1530
Our Lady's gloves1538
bacchar1551
hog's snout1559
centron1570
lady's glove1575
sharewort1578
kite's-foot1580
Magdalene1589
astrophel1591
eileber1597
exan1597
blue butterflower1599
bybbey1600
oenothera1601
rhodora1601
shamefaced1605
mouse-foot1607
Byzantine1621
popinjay1629
priest's bonnet1685
Indian weed1687
foal-bit1706
shepherd's bodkin1706
bottle-head1714
walking leaf1718
French apple1736
bugleweed1771
night-weed1810
beggar-weed1878
1810 T. Campbell On Visiting Scene in Argyleshire in Poet. Wks. I. 145 The night-weed and thorn overshadowed the place.
† night whale n. Obsolete a nocturnal bird, perhaps the nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus.
ΚΠ
c1520 Parl. Byrdes (de Worde) sig. A.iv Then sayd the nyght whale with his heed gay He shameth vs with his parlyament araye.
night willow-herb n. now U.S. regional = evening primrose n..
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > evening primrose and allied flowers
tree primrose1629
primrose tree1728
Onagra1735
oenothera1754
night primrose1759
evening primrose1761
night willow-herb1770
nightly primrose1785
sundrop1785
godetia1836
1770 J. R. Reinhold Systematic Catal. in T. Bossu Trav. II. 33 Oenothera..pumila. Night-willowherb, dwarf.
1847 W. Darlington Agric. Bot. 55 Biennial Œnothera..Evening Primrose. Night Willow-herb.
1914 A. E. Georgia Man. Weeds 295 Field primrose..Night Willow-herb.
1940 W. N. Clute Amer. Plant Names 93 [Oenothera] biennis..Common evening primrose. Night willow-herb.
† night-worm n. Obsolete (a) a treacherous comrade; (b) a prostitute; (c) a glow-worm; (d) rare an earthworm that comes out at night.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > undutifulness > treachery > [noun] > treacherous person > treacherous comrade
night-worm?a1439
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > a prostitute
meretrixOE
whoreOE
soiled dovea1250
common womanc1330
putec1384
bordel womanc1405
putaina1425
brothelc1450
harlot?a1475
public womanc1510
naughty pack?1529
draba1533
cat1535
strange woman1535
stew1552
causey-paikera1555
putanie?1566
drivelling1570
twigger1573
punka1575
hackney1579
customer1583
commodity1591
streetwalker1591
traffic1591
trug1591
hackster1592
polecat1593
stale1593
mermaid1595
medlar1597
occupant1598
Paphian1598
Winchester goose1598
pagan1600
hell-moth1602
aunt1604
moll1604
prostitution1605
community1606
miss1606
night-worm1606
bat1607
croshabell1607
prostitute1607
pug1607
venturer1607
nag1608
curtal1611
jumbler1611
land-frigate1611
walk-street1611
doll-common1612
turn-up1612
barber's chaira1616
commonera1616
public commonera1616
trader1615
venturea1616
stewpot1616
tweak1617
carry-knave1623
prostibule1623
fling-dusta1625
mar-taila1625
night-shadea1625
waistcoateera1625
night trader1630
coolera1632
meretrician1631
painted ladya1637
treadle1638
buttock1641
night-walker1648
mob?1650
lady (also girl, etc.) of the game1651
lady of pleasure1652
trugmullion1654
fallen woman1659
girlc1662
high-flyer1663
fireship1665
quaedama1670
small girl1671
visor-mask1672
vizard-mask1672
bulker1673
marmalade-madam1674
town miss1675
town woman1675
lady of the night1677
mawks1677
fling-stink1679
Whetstone whore1684
man-leech1687
nocturnal1693
hack1699
strum1699
fille de joie1705
market-dame1706
screw1725
girl of (the) town1733
Cytherean1751
street girl1764
monnisher1765
lady of easy virtue1766
woman (also lady) of the town1766
kennel-nymph1771
chicken1782
stargazer1785
loose fish1809
receiver general1811
Cyprian1819
mollya1822
dolly-mop1834
hooker1845
charver1846
tail1846
horse-breaker1861
professional1862
flagger1865
cocodette1867
cocotte1867
queen's woman1871
common prostitute1875
joro1884
geisha1887
horizontal1888
flossy1893
moth1896
girl of the pavement1900
pross1902
prossie1902
pusher1902
split-arse mechanic1903
broad1914
shawl1922
bum1923
quiff1923
hustler1924
lady of the evening1924
prostie1926
working girl1928
prostisciutto1930
maggie1932
brass1934
brass nail1934
mud kicker1934
scupper1935
model1936
poule de luxe1937
pro1937
chromo1941
Tom1941
pan-pan1949
twopenny upright1958
scrubber1959
slack1959
yum-yum girl1960
Suzie Wong1962
mattress1964
jamette1965
ho1966
sex worker1971
pavement princess1976
parlour girl1979
crack whore1990
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Diversicornia > family Lampyridae > lampyris noctiluca (glow-worm)
glow-wormc1320
gold worm?c1475
glowbard?a1500
silver-worm?a1500
glose-worm1519
glass-worm1552
glaze-worm1578
glare-worm1607
night-worm1774
glow-bug1781
fireworm1821
glow-beetle1860
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) i. 6509 Keep your conceitis vnder couerture, Suffre no nyhtwerm withynne your counsail kreepe.
1606 S. Daniel Queenes Arcadia i. iii. sig. C1 Bedbrokers, night wormes and Compositors.
1774 W. Mason Poems (Jod.) 222 Like a nest of night-worms they did glitter, Sprinkling the plain with brightness.
1834 R. Mudie Feathered Tribes Brit. Islands I. 43 The night worms and other small animals..have mostly retired into the earth before the partridges leave their..sleeping place.
† night-yard n. Obsolete rare a place to which the contents of cesspools are taken for disposal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirty place > [noun] > night-yard
night-yard1851
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 216/1 The ‘night-yards’, or the places where the contents of the cess-pools are deposited.

Derivatives

ˈnightlike adj. reminiscent of or resembling the night.
ΚΠ
1606 G. Chapman Sir Gyles Goosecappe iii. i I seeme a liueless Embrion to all Each day rackt vp in nightlike Funerall.
1785 T. Dwight Conquest of Canäan viii. 202 Near the bright car he wheel'd his streaming blade, And dust around him cast a night-like shade.
1821 P. B. Shelley Adonais 19 His dark and night-like eyes.
1963 J. Fowles Collector ii. 123 I write in this terrible nightlike silence as if I feel normal.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

nightv.

Brit. /nʌɪt/, U.S. /naɪt/
Forms: Middle English nyght, Middle English nyghtt, Middle English nyȝt, Middle English nyȝte, Middle English nyhte, Middle English–1500s nyghte, 1500s– night; Scottish pre-1700 nich, pre-1700 nycht, pre-1700 nyghtt, pre-1700 1700s– nicht, pre-1700 1700s– night.
Origin: Probably of multiple origins. Probably partly a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Probably partly formed within English, by conversion. Etymons: English genihtian ; night n.
Etymology: Probably partly aphetic < Old English genihtian (see below), and partly directly < night n.Compare Old High German nahtēn (Middle High German nahten , German nachten ), Old Icelandic nátta , Old Swedish natta (Swedish natta ), Danish natte < the same Germanic base as night n. Compare also the Old English prefixed form genihtian in sense 1a:OE Vercelli Homilies (1992) i. 36 Þa he on rode ahangen wæs, þa geþystrode hit & efne fæstlice genihtode ofer eallne middangeard fram middum dæge oð non.
†1.
a. intransitive. With non-referential it as subject. To turn to night; to grow dark. Also with person affected as indirect object. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > become dark [verb (intransitive)] > at nightfall
nighta1393
nighten1561
gloom1595
advesperate1623
gloam1819
dusken1870
dusk1876
the world > time > day and night > day or daytime > evening > become evening [verb (intransitive)]
nighta1393
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 4955 (MED) Ayein Eve..A while er it began to nyhte, A povere man..Cam forth.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) v. 515 Into tyme that it gan to nyghte, They spaken of Criseyde the brighte.
?1507 Ballad of Kynd Kittok in W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen sig. b.ivv Att ane ailhous neir [hevin] it nyghttit yaim yare.
a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Royal) viii. xxvi. 3437 It nychtyd fast: and thai Thowcht till abyd thare to the day.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 40 Euill lykand was the Kyng, it nichtit him sa lait.
b. intransitive. Of the night: to come down, to fall. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > day or daytime > evening > become evening [verb (intransitive)] > fall (of night) or grow dark
fallOE
nightc1440
to fall ona1450
nighten1561
gloom1595
gloam1819
dusken1870
dusk1876
to shut down1880
c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure 451 (MED) Thare thow nyghttes on nyghte, nedez moste þou lenge, Be it foreste or felde.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 153 (MED) Nero..myght not Suffice the lordshupp..of galerne the baillie, ther as the nyght nyghtyth.
2.
a. intransitive. To spend or pass the night; to remain or lodge for the night. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting temporarily > [verb (intransitive)] > overnight
liec1330
nighta1400
pausec1450
pernoctate1623
to stay over1884
overnight1891
sleep1975
the world > time > day and night > night > [verb (intransitive)] > spend the night
nighta1400
a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 7729 (MED) He nyghtede yn a wasteyne.
R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love 46 (MED) Criste..in prayer allon in þe hyll nyghtyd [L. pernoctauit].
a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (BL Add. 9066) (1879) 205 Crist..entred..the wombe of that blissed virgyn, and there he nyghted from the tyme of his Conception vnto his birthe.
1502 in Antiq. Rep. (1808) II. 256 Upon the morowe he nyghted at his castell of Wyndsore.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. vii. 335 Leauing these Mountaynes..and passing the Townes of Antibo and Cana, to night at Furges.
c1650 J. Spalding Memorialls Trubles Scotl. & Eng. (1851) II. 6 Thay nichit for thair awin pay in the Oldtoun.
1786 A. Gib Καινα και Παλαια: Sacred Contempl. i. v. i. 138 The words translated abideth not, strictly mean nighteth not, passeth not a night.
1818 J. Hogg Brownie of Bodsbeck II. 53 You and I shall never night thegither again in the same house.
1885 R. F. Burton tr. Arabian Nights' Entertainm. I. x. 101 Would Heaven we had never entered this house, but had rather nighted on the mounds and heaps outside the city!
1955 E. Pound Classic Anthol. iii. 188 At the cross-roads Han sacrificed, Nighted at T'u.
1962 in Sc. National Dict. (1965) (at cited word) I nichtit at the Buchan Arms.
†b. intransitive. To cease work for the night. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > work > times or periods of work > work at specific times or periods [verb (intransitive)] > stop work > for the night
night1529
1529 in R. Renwick Extracts Rec. Stirling (1887) I. 35 Till entyr to his werk at day lycht in the morwyng, laif at half hour to twelf at none, and nycht at ewyn.
†3.
a. transitive. In passive. To be overtaken by night or darkness; to be benighted. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > become dark [verb (intransitive)] > at nightfall > be overtaken by night
nighta1470
benight1560
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > make dark [verb (transitive)] > involve in darkness > to overtake a person as night
nighta1470
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 172 By fortune they were nyghted.
a1500 (?c1450) Bone Florence (1976) 1435 (MED) They were nyghtyd in a wode thyck.
1526 Pylgrimage of Perfection (de Worde) f. 133v Yf it fortune them to be nyghted, and the gates of the cite where they wold rest shutte.
1582 in W. Fraser Memorials Family Wemyss (1888) III. 77 Being nychtit for fault of my hors.
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 106 Theire desire is to buy soone that they may bee goinge betimes for feare of beinge nighted.
1665 in P. H. Brown Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1909) 3rd Ser. II. 69 John Watson..and Alexander Watson..being nighted be the way, took up their lodging at Robert Innes his house.
1820 J. Hogg Tales (1874) 187 I had strong hopes that she had been nightit and staid there until day.
1889 ‘M. Twain’ Connecticut Yankee xix. 232 They came into a deep forest, and by fortune they were nighted, and rode along in a deep way.
b. transitive. To envelop in the darkness of night. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1640 W. Lithgow Gushing Teares of Godly Sorrow sig. K2 No rocks, nor hills, nor darknesse can me night, Nor blacknesse vaile from thy all-seeing sight.
1880 Jamieson's Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (new ed.) at Nicht The sun 'clipse nichted a' the lan'.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.int.eOEv.a1393
随便看

　

英语词典包含1132095条英英释义在线翻译词条，基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。

　

Copyright © 2004-2022 Newdu.com All Rights Reserved
更新时间：2025/2/3 17:22:10