dead of night


dead of night

The middle of the night. Why are you calling me in the dead of night? Can't this wait till morning?See also: dead, night, of

dead of

The period of greatest intensity of something, such as darkness or cold. For example, I love looking at seed catalogs in the dead of winter, when it's below zero outside. The earliest recorded use of dead of night, for "darkest time of night," was in Edward Hall's Chronicle of 1548: "In the dead of the night ... he broke up his camp and fled." Dead of winter, for the coldest part of winter, dates from the early 1600s. See also: dead, of

the dead of night

the quietest, darkest part of the night.See also: dead, night, of

(in) the ˌdead of (the) ˈnight

,

at ˌdead of ˈnight

in the quietest, darkest hours of the night: She crept in at dead of night, while they were asleep. OPPOSITE: in broad daylightSee also: dead, night, of

dead of night/winter, the

The time of most intense stillness, darkness, or cold. This usage dates from the sixteenth century. Shakespeare had it in Twelfth Night (1.5), “Even in the dead of night,” and Washington Irving used the alternate phrase in Salmagundi (1807–08), “In the dead of winter, when nature is without charm.”See also: dead, night, of