overnightv.
/ˌəʊvəˈnʌɪt/, U.S. /ˌoʊvərˈnaɪt/ 1. intransitive. To stay overnight; to pass the night in a particular place.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting temporarily > [verb (intransitive)] > overnight
liec1330
nighta1400
pausec1450
pernoctate1623
to stay over1884
overnight1891
sleep1975
1891 M. M. Dowie Girl in Karpathians xiii. 177 He invites us to over-night at his house. Will you go?
1962 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 2 Nov. 6/6 When a stewardess ‘overnights’ she spends the night in the city where the flight terminates.
1972 Drive Spring 49/2 With the horses provided you could trek deep into the forest, overnighting in a bivouac.
1994 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 22 Dec. 27/2 She says that, while husband Hart often overnights at her place, they maintain separate addresses.
2. intransitive. English regional (Yorkshire). To survive the night. rare.
ΚΠ
1895 Leeds Mercury Weekly Suppl. 16 Nov. in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 390/2 Bob was so bad we thowt he wad'nt ower-neeght.
3. transitive. U.S. To convey or deliver (goods) overnight.
ΚΠ
1985 Sales & Marketing Managem. (Nexis) 3 June 107 Forester..overnighted the sample to..division headquarters by courier.
1992 Portable Computing 1 i. 20 Should anything happen on the road, Citizen will overnight a new unit to you, regardless of your location.
2001 K. Walker & M. Schone Son of Grifter xx. 184 Ken ran his empire over the phone with his early morning calls and overnighted the signed checks necessary to keep his businesses running.
Derivatives
ˌoverˈnighting n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting temporarily > [noun] > overnight
overnighting1948
sleepover1975
couch surfing1994
1948 K. Anthony Lambs vi. 132 The clambering in and out of stage-coaches, the overnighting in strange taverns.
1989 Motor Caravan World June 81/1 The pitching area..is a quiet and secluded haven ideal for overnighting, or an extended stay for those visiting both coast and Edinburgh.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
overnightadv.n.adj.
/ˌəʊvəˈnʌɪt/, U.S. /ˌoʊvərˈnaɪt/ A. adv.
1. During or in the course of the night; for the duration of 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
1381 Diuersa Servicia in C. B. Hieatt & S. Butler Curye on Inglysch (1985) 75 For to make salt lomprey in galentyne, yt schal be stoppit ouer nyȝt in lewe water.
a1450 Late Middle Eng. Treat. on Horses (1978) 99 (MED) Mangew..oþer-while..comeþ upon an hors when pouder & swot I-dried to be ouer-nyȝt upon him & is not currayde & made clene.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Neh. xiii. 20 Then remayned the chapmen and marchauntes once or twyce ouer nighte without Ierusalem.
1573 G. Gascoigne Aduentures F.I. sig. Diii One cause of hir sorrow..was that he had sayd so openly ouer night, that hee could not loue.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iv. ii. 129 And so, good rest. Pro. As wretches haue ore-night That wait for execution in the morne. View more context for this quotation
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 33 If griefe lodges with us over night, Joy shall be our Day Guest.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (1721) I. 207 That the Horse be well provender'd, and drink but little over Night.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 64 The out-fields..were taithed or dunged by confining the cattle in folds, over night, during summer and autumn, upon that particular portion..which was to be ploughed next spring.
1843 C. Mathews Var. Writings 34 The little lawyer had died over night.
1894 H. H. Gardener Unofficial Patriot 49 He preferred to stay overnight with the family.
1913 W. Cather O Pioneers! ii. iii. 106 Then you are glad to see me, and you can put me up overnight?
1987 A. Tutuola Pauper, Brawler & Slanderer v. 20 It was his son..who stole the ewe overnight.
2. Before the night; on the preceding evening; the night before (with implication that the result of the action continues until the following morning). Now chiefly English regional and U.S. regional.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adverb] > the night before
overnighta1398
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 75v Hote watir is best fastinge and namliche to ham þat beþ I-dronke ouer nyȝt [L. de nocte].
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) ii. 1549 Deiphebus had hym preied over nyght To ben a frend and helpyng to Criseyde.
a1500 (a1450) Generides (Trin. Cambr.) 2028 They..dressid all ther harnes ouer nyght, That they myght on the morow..be redy to Batell.
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Publyke Baptisme f.i*v The parentes shall geue knowledge ouer nyght or in the mornyng.
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. iii. 155 Claudio..swore he would..before the whole congregation shame her, with what he saw o're night. View more context for this quotation
1669 W. Simpson Hydrologia Chymica 355 That may be done over night, last to bed-ward.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 105. ¶1 His Head ached every Morning with reading of Men over-night.
1751 B. Franklin & D. Hall Idea of Eng. School (1987) 349 These lessons might be given over Night as Tasks, the Scholars to study them against the Morning.
1818 W. Kitchiner Cook's Oracle (ed. 2) 577 Puddings are best when mixed over night.
1886 J. K. Jerome Idle Thoughts (1896) 124 We had ordered a duck for dinner over night.
a1902 S. Butler Way of All Flesh (1903) vi People..who have a headache after having been tipsy overnight.
1995 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1996) III. 917/2 [N.Y.] Thanks to Alison.., who puts up coffee overnight as she puts out cats.
3. figurative. As if in a single night; very quickly, suddenly, instantaneously.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > [adverb] > instantaneously or with a short space of time
swiftlya1400
at one fling1556
at one (a) chop1581
per saltum1602
at one (fell, etc.) swoop1612
popa1625
instantaneously1644
in the catching up of a garter1697
in the drawing of a trigger1706
in a handclap1744
at a slap1753
momentaneously1753
in a whiff1800
in a brace or couple of shakes1816
bolt1839
at a single jeta1856
overnight1912
jiffy-quick1927
in two ups1934
1912 C. Mathewson Pitching in Pinch i. 1 (heading) How ‘Joe’ Tinker changed overnight from a weakling at the plate to the worst batter I had to face.
1955 ‘A. Gilbert’ Is she Dead Too? ii. 30 She'd been there two years when Alice Poulden died. It all seemed to happen overnight as you might say.
1972 P. Green Shadow of Parthenon 15 The classics have nearly half a century of revolutionary critical development to catch up on: the thing cannot be achieved overnight.
1992 Economist 15 Feb. 115/2 The arrival of the year 2000 is not expected to change things overnight, as the year 1000 was forecast to do.
B. n.† 1. The preceding evening or night. Obsolete (chiefly U.S. regional in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > day or daytime > evening > [noun] > preceding evening
overnight1581
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxii. 115 Before the ouernightes diet be thoroughly digested.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iv. iii. 228 To cure thy o're-nights surfet. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iii. iv. 23 If I had giuen you this at ouer-night, She might haue beene ore-tane. View more context for this quotation
1705 S. Whately in W. S. Perry Hist. Coll. Amer. Colonial Church: Virginia (1870) I. 170 Came to Town the over night before that general meeting.
1770 G. Washington Diaries (1925) I. 423 After much Councelling the overnight, they all came to my fire the next morning.
1824 Compl. Hist. Murd. Weare App. 19 He had heard the report of a Gun in the lane on the overnight.
1872 W. D. Howells Their Wedding Journey i. 21 The air,..freshened by the over-night's storm.
a1897 F. B. Lloyd Sketches Country Life (1898) 14 So I packed my saddle bags and got everything ready the over night, and by the crack of day the next mornin I was straddle of the old gray.
1898 R. Dottie Rambles 185 Startin' at th' o'er neet an' doancin' till welly that time i' to' mornin'.
2. A stop or stay lasting for one night.
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society > travel > aspects of travel > a journey > [noun] > break in a journey
resting?a1425
arresta1500
bait1580
alto1591
halt1598
station1604
stop1650
stoppage1840
noon halt1843
stop-off1869
lay-over1873
stop-over1881
water stop1896
overnight1936
society > travel > aspects of travel > a journey > [noun] > break in a journey > specific
outspan1822
overnight1936
1936 Times 8 Dec. 13/6 The overnights in Scotland for the year reached the remarkable total of 113,500.
1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 9 Oct. 573/4 A highly convincing background of aviation and suburbia, dinettes, lounges (domestic, not airport), overnights and rosters.
1997 J. Ryan Dismantling Mr Doyle xi. 155 Let me see... Three days, beginning July second. And then Killarney, Galway and Dublin. One overnight in each.
3. British. = overnighter n. 3. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prisoner > [noun] > short-timer > specific one night
overnight1968
1968 J. Lock Lady Policeman xiii. 117 The gaoler brings the ‘overnights’ from the cells.
4. In plural. Originally and chiefly U.S.
a. Broadcasting. Viewing ratings for programmes broadcast on the previous night.
ΚΠ
1974 Broadcasting 12 Aug. 28/3 In the most recent national overnights (Aug. 1), it hit its low of the season so far, an 11.8 rating and 27 share.
1984 Listener 26 Jan. 11/1 A man for whom the ratings were all, a supposed expert at reading the ‘overnights’.
1997 Media Week 16 May 4/2 The first night generated 14 ABC1 women ratings, according to unofficial overnights, and peaked at a 30 per cent share of viewing by that demographic.
b. gen. colloquial. Overnight reports, figures, etc.
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society > communication > correspondence > letter > [noun] > other types of letter
billet-doux1673
poulet1691
treble letter1753
round robin1755
screed1834
tickler1846
application letter1850
test letter1869
letter of envoy1873
hastener1922
fan letter1932
aerogram1933
yum-yum1943
newsletter1961
overnights1975
1975 W. Safire Before Fall v. iii. 331 Most reports clearly stated the fact of the riot and the rock-throwing, but in the ‘overnights’ and follow-ups one could feel the need for balance.
1976 C. Weston Rouse Demon (1977) i. 4 Ten minutes to spare, pounding up the stairs to the Detective Bureau... Time to skim through the overnights before the morning rundown.
2002 W. E. B. Griffin Under Fire i He..laid a copy of the more important overnight communications—‘the overnights’—on the chairman's desk.
C. adj.
1.
a. Of or relating to the previous evening; (now chiefly) done, happening, operating, etc., overnight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > day or daytime > evening > [adjective] > of the previous evening
overnight1824
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
1824 J. Galt Rothelan I. ii. xi. 250 He found no other traces of the Scottish army there, than the broken weapons of the overnight assault.
1859 J. Lang Wanderings in India 19 The result of the two over-night glasses of brandy.
1870 Daily News 25 Nov. The limit of my overnight journey.
1940 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 44 743 The design of a high-speed mailplane for overnight trans-Atlantic services.
1976 Sc. Daily Express 23 Dec. 2/7 Outlook for tomorrow and Christmas Day:..overnight frost and fog patches.
1999 Towerlight (Towson, Maryland) 18 Mar. 14/2 Some sites even offer its users an e-mail service in which they are notified about future auctions as well as overnight delivery.
b. For the duration of one night; for use on a stop or stay of one night; (of a person) staying overnight.Recorded earliest in compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [adjective] > lasting or during a night
night-longOE
all-night1828
one-night1878
overnight1925
1925 New Yorker 17 Oct. 32/2 This is simply wonderful for travelers, though, as an overnight bag, it has the disadvantage of [etc.].
1934 Sun (Baltimore) 6 Feb. 22/1 The air hostess was the overnight guest of Captain and Mrs. W. O. Schrum.
1943 J. S. Huxley TVA ix. 61 Cove Lake Inn, with its group of tourist cabins,..has become..an important overnight stopping place for tourists.
2002 Mail on Sunday (Nexis) 24 Nov. 16 Three out of five of all patients in Scotland are now treated as day cases without the need for an overnight bed.
2. Finance. Designating the price of a share, etc., at the close of business on the previous day; designating money lent or borrowed, or otherwise made available, from one day to the next.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > [adjective] > attributes of money as commodity
cheap1861
overnight1909
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [adjective] > prices on stock market
rigged1826
overnight1909
downside1938
mid-market1965
1909 Westm. Gaz. 7 Aug. 12/1 Finishing on the other side very strongly, the overnight prices were well above those ruling in the ‘House’ at the close of yesterday afternoon.
1930 M. Clark Home Trade xxix. 233 Sometimes the loan is merely one from one day to the next—often termed ‘overnight loans’; at other times it is for a short period of say seven days (‘weekly loans’).
1973 Times 2 Feb. 14/7 New York money men have been known to quake in the knowledge that they have on deposit $1,000m of overnight money—money which can be withdrawn the next morning.
2003 Malaysia Econ. News (Nexis) 23 Jan. Most heavyweights stayed at their overnight prices, a dealer said.
3. figurative. Sudden, instant; rapid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > [adjective] > instantaneous
instantany1633
unmomentary1635
instantaneal1644
instantaneous1651
touch and go1682
presto1767
snappy1872
overnighta1911
durationless1919
split-second1946
on the spot1960
a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox in Hearst's Mag. (1915) July 66/2 Character is not an overnight creation.
1960 News Chron. 18 Mar. 6/6 He has become an over-night hero to countless people.
1974 R. Hawkey & R. Bingham Wild Card xv. 127 His novel advances in the field of biodegradable materials..had brought him an overnight reputation.
1989 Business Tokyo Summer 39/1 His marketing effort has not yielded overnight results, nor was it intended to; Vilaplana anticipates ‘a long, slow courting process’.
Compounds
overnight bag n. a bag for use when staying overnight.
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
1925Overnight bag [see sense C. 1b].
1987 J. Diski Rainforest iii. 39 She..threw in her briefcase next to the overnight bag.
overnight cabin n. U.S. a cabin used for a stop or stay of one night.
ΚΠ
1939 Florida: Guide to Southernmost State (Federal Writers' Project) ii. 5 With the addition of overnight cabins he was in the tourist business.
2002 Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.) (Nexis) 19 Oct. b1 Kiptopeke State Park would get $2.7 million for new overnight cabins.
overnight case n. a light case for use when staying overnight.
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
1934 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Overnight case.
1935 Montgomery Ward Catal. 582 Wards finest—tray fitted overnight case.
2003 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 1 Jan. 58 In a dingy hotel room, the man packed his overnight case.
overnight telegram n. a telegram intended for delivery the following morning.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telegraphy > [noun] > telegraphic message > types of
telotype1850
cablegram1868
cable-message1877
phonogram1880
cable1883
ticking1888
aerogram1890
T.T.1893
petit bleu1898
Marconigram1902
radio-telegram1902
radiogram1903
wireless1903
news flash1904
teleflash1904
lettergram1908
day letter1910
night letter telegram1910
night telegraph letter1912
radio1915
printergram1932
teletype1933
greeting telegram1937
telemessage1941
overnight telegram1955
telex1957
1955 P.O. Guide July 309 Overnight telegrams are accepted between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily for delivery next day..normally by the first post.
2001 Times (Nexis) 23 Mar. Last night he authorised the dispatch of an overnight telegram to every British ambassador.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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v.1891
adv.n.adj.1381