▪ I. night, n.
(naɪt)
Forms: α. 1 næcht, næht, neaht, 1, 4 naht, (3 nahht), 3–5 naght, (4 naȝt), 3 naught, (5 nauȝt). β. 1–4 nyht, 3–5 nyth, 5–6 Sc. nycht; 4–5 nyȝt, (4 nyȝtt, -tht), 4–6 nyght, (4 nygth); 1, 4 niht, (3 nihht, nieht), 3–6 nicht, (4 nith); 3–5 niȝt, 5 neght, 5–6 nighte, 3– night.
[Common Teut.: OE. niht, nyht, and neaht, næht fem. = OFris. and MDu. nacht, OS. naht (MLG. nacht), OHG. naht (G. nacht), ON. nátt, nótt (Norw. natt, nott, Sw. natt, Da. nat), Goth. nahts. The pre-Teut. stem *nokt- is widely represented in the cognate languages, as in L. noct-, nox, OIr. nocht, Gr. νυκτ-, νύξ, Skr. nákta, nákti, Lith. naktis, O.Pruss. naktin, OSl. noshtĭ (Russ. noch{p}). The variation in OE. between neaht (Anglian næht) and niht (for *nięht) is orig. due to umlaut in some of the cases; in the later language the mutated form finally displaces the other.]
I. 1. a. The period of darkness which intervenes between day and day; that part of the natural day (of 24 hours) during which no light is received from the sun; the time between evening and morning.
| α c 825 Vesp. Psalter ciii. 20 Ðu settes ðeostru & ᵹeworden wes naeht. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xiv. 25 Ðiu feorða waccen næhtes cuom [he] to him ᵹeongende ofer sæ. a 1000 Boeth. Metr. xx. 229 Ealle hi scinað ðurh þa sciran neaht. c 1200 Ormin 16942 Þe nahht maȝȝ ec bitacnenn uss All þatt stafflike lare Off moysæsess laȝheboc. |
| β Beowulf 115 [Grendel] ᵹewat ða neosian, syþan niht becom, hean huses. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxix. §13 Sio sunne & se mona habbað todæled betwuht him þone dæᵹ & þa niht. 971 Blickl. Hom. 207 Næs hweðre næniᵹ man þe þær æfre nihtes tidum dorste on þære ciricean cuman. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 242 Seo niht hæfð seofan dælas fram þære sunnan settlunge oð hire upgang. c 1055 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 298 On anum dæᵹe & þære nihte beoð feower & twentiᵹ tida. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1682 For þer is a liht,..Ne niht nis ter neauer. c 1300 Havelok 404 Ihesu crist, that makede mone On þe mirke nith to shine. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 526 Sesounes schal you neuer sese; of sede, ne of heruest..; Ne þe nyȝt, ne þe day. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 245 Than wixen the dayes more schorte than they weryn, and the nyght more longyr. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xxiv. 90 Y⊇ nyghte..gyueth triews to alle labours, and by slepyng maketh swete alle peynes and traueylles. 1548 Forrest Pleas. Poesye 183 in Starkey's Eng. p. xc, The daye in too the nyght shee can conuerte. 1566 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 447 Undir silence of nycht befoir day. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. v. 10, I am thy Fathers Spirit, Doom'd for a certaine terme to walke the night. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 166 Images of young men..with torches in their hands, for the use of the night. 1712 Budgell Spect. No. 425 ¶3, I reflected..upon the sweet Vicissitudes of Night and Day. 1742 Young Nt. Th. i. 102 Ev'n silent night proclaims my soul immortal. 1821 Shelley Adonais xxi, Evening must usher night, night urge the morrow. 1890 Hall Caine Bondman ii. vii, The night of the northern land had closed down. |
b. In comparisons,
as black, dark, etc., as night.
| c 1400 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems 151/244 Thow shalt go as derk as nyȝr, And þerfore þou most haue condell lyȝt. 1595 Shakes. John iv. i. 15 Yong Gentlemen would be as sad as night Onely for wantonnesse. 1596 ― Merch. V. v. i. 86 The motions of his spirit are dull as night. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 308 His look Drew audience and attention still as Night. 1795 J. Benson in Mem. (1892) 284 They were all as silent and serious as night. 1821 Byron Juan iii. lxxv, Her eyelashes, though dark as night, were tinged. 1893 Earl Dunmore Pamirs I. 4 Their hair..was as black as night. |
c. poet. Personified as a female being or deity.
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 387 They..must for aye consort with blacke browd night. 1632 Milton Penseroso 121 Thus night oft see me in thy pale career. 1742 Pope Dunc. iv. 630 The sable Throne behold Of Night primæval and of Chaos old. 1788 Coleridge To Autumnal Moon, Mild Splendour of the various-vested Night. 1820 Shelley Sensit. Pl. ii. 11 Like the lamps of the air when Night walks forth. 1845 Longfellow The Day is done i, The darkness Falls from the wings of Night. |
d. The darkness which prevails during this time; the dark.
| 1855 Tennyson Maud i. i. iv, I heard The shrill-edged shriek..divide the shuddering night. 1879 E. Arnold Lt. Asia iv. (1883) 102 Then, lightly treading where those sleepers lay, Into the night Siddârtha passed. |
2. In
fig. contexts or uses.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John ix. 4 Cymeð næht ðonne næniᵹ monne mæᵹe ᵹewyrca. c 1200 Ormin 1904 Crist ras upp..Forr dæþess nahht to wannsenn. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 89 For god ledde hem fro helle niȝt To paradises leue liȝt. a 1300 Cursor M. 3560 Þe man þat sua wit eld es dight His day es turned him to night. 1382 Wyclif 1 Thess. v. 5 We ben not of nyȝt, nethir of derknessis. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 314 Yet hath my night of life some memorie; My wasting lampes some fading glimmer left. 1593 ― Rich. II, iii. ii. 218 Let them hence away, From Richards Night, to Bullingbrookes faire Day. a 1658 Lovelace Poems (1659) 9 Some Ethiopian Queen,..Whose ugly Night seem'd masked with days Skreen. 1697 Dryden æneid iv. 992 Dido..clos'd her Lids at last, in endless Night. 1720 J. Hughes Siege Damascus v. (1777) 68 Look how he bleeds! Let's lay him gently down; Night gathers fast upon him. 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. I. Pref. 5 Night..has for many centuries obscured our holy religion. 1820 Shelley Arethusa 66 Where the shadowy waves Are as green as the forest's night. 1847 Tennyson Princ. iv. 470 Robed in the long night of her deep hair. |
3. The time at which darkness comes on; the close or end of daylight.
| c 1205 Lay. 1680 Þat com to þere nihte, Þat lengre heo ne mighte. c 1300 Havelok 2669 So was bi-twenen hem a fiht Fro þe morwen ner to þe niht. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2669 At morne, when þou sese lyght, Thynk als þou sal dygh ar nyght. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 484 Hit was nyȝe at þe naȝt & Noe þen sechez. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 255 Ȝhit this gud wiff held Wallace till the nycht. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 275 Since night you lou'd me; yet since night you left me. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 260 It was the hour of night, when thus the Son Commun'd in silent walk. 1703 Rowe Ulyss. iv. i, Twice have I sought since Night To pass in private. |
4. With
a and
pl. One of the intervals of darkness between two days.
a. Used with numerals to mark duration or lapse of time.
In
OE. and early
ME. the singular is used in place of the plural:
cf. fortnight and sevennight.
| a 900 Cynewulf Crist 542 Bidon ealle þær..in þære torhtan byriᵹ tyn niht. c 900 O.E. Chron. (Parker MS.) an. 871 Ðæs ymb iii niht ridon ii eorlas up. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1004 Se here com þa to Þeodforda..& þær binnon ane niht wæron. c 1205 Lay. 4506 Næuede heo bute þreo nihte feorst faren þat heo scolde. c 1275 Serving Christ 3 in O.E. Misc. 90 Ne beo we siker of þe lif on-lepy nauht. a 1300 Cursor M. 12926 Iesus..fasted..fourti night and fourti dais. c 1325 Chron. Eng. 157 in Ritson Metr. Rom. II. 276 Ther spac an ern [a] prophecie Thre dawes and thre nyht. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iv. 588 Ek wonder last but nine nyght nevere in towne. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 153 He makyd the cite of Rome afyre to sette, and Sewyn dayes and Sewyn nyghtes to brente. 1470–85 Malory Arthur iv. xxvi. 155 Within seuen nyghtes his damoysel brought hym to an erles place. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. iii. 18 Now will he lie ten nights awake caruing the fashion of a new dublet. 1634 W. Tirwhyt tr. Balzac's Lett. 352 One night in a bad Host-house were sufficient to finish the worke of my Death. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 63 The space of seven continu'd Nights he rode. 1725 Pope Odyss. vi. 205 Twice ten tempestuous nights I rolled. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam xii. xxxviii, Three days and nights we sailed. 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. |
b. Used to mark an occasion or point of time.
Also
freq. with defining term, as
Christmas,
Midsummer,
ball,
wedding night, etc.; see these words.
| c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. xxxiii. (1890) 90 æᵹhwelce niht ofer his byrᵹenne heofonlic leoht wæs æteawed. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1110 On þære fiftan nihte on Maies monðe, ætwyde se mona on æfen beorhte scinende. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3142 Ðe tende dai it sulde ben laȝt, And ho[l]den in ðe tende naȝt. a 1300 Cursor M. 2712 Þe trinite he sagh.. And gestend þam wit him þat night. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (Baptist) 1168 Þare þai wak þat nicht for sancte Ihonis sak. a 1400–50 Alexander 1084 Þe same niȝt in his slepe Seraphis aperis. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxvi. 1 Off Februar the fyiftene nycht..I lay in till a trance. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 207 Wherefore he came on a night and declared all this to the Queene. 1653 tr. Carmeni's Nissena 39 Who by reason of his last nights waking..had a very sore fit of a Feaver. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 15 ¶7 The missing of an Opera the first Night. 1754 Med. Obs. & Inq. (1776) I. v. 37 The blisters which had been laid above her ancles the night before. a 1781 Watson Philip III (1793) I. i. 79 Albert..arrived on the same night at Bruges. 1890 Law Times Rep. LXIII. 765/1 The defendant only intended to represent the play on two nights. |
c. As a division or period of time. Also with
adjs. denoting the kind of weather prevailing or other natural feature.
| c 1200 Ormin 1901 Marrchess nahhtess wannsenn aȝȝ & Marrchess daȝhess waxenn. a 1250 Owl & Night. 523 Hwenne nyhtes cumeþ longe & bryngeþ forstes starke & stronge. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8684 With myche dole vppon dayes & on derke nightes Sum walt into wodenes. a 1568 Satir. Poems Reform. xlvi. 23 In moneless nichtis it is na mowis. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iv. ii. 140 It hath bin the longest night That ere I watch'd. 1603 ― Meas. for M. ii. i. 139 This will last out a night in Russia When nights are longest there. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 680 Else had the Spring Perpetual smiled..Equal in Days and Nights. 1715 tr. Gregory's Astron. (1726) I. 64 To explain the Variety of the Days and Nights, and the Seasons of the Year thence arising. 1818 Byron Juan i. cxxxv, 'Twas, as the watch⁓men say, a cloudy night. 1866 Chambers's Encycl. III. 86/2 Summer and autumn nights are freest of clouds. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 102 To my taste there is nothing so fascinating as spending a night out in an African forest. |
| transf. 1803 Naval Chron. XV. 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. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVI. 326/1 The longest night [lasts] from the 19th of November to the 26th of January, which is two months and ten days. |
d. With adjectives, denoting the quality of rest obtained, or the manner in which the time is spent. (
Cf. good-night.)
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. iv. 2, O I haue past a miserable night, So full of fearefull Dreames. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 31 Such night till this I never pass'd. 1671 ― P.R. ii. 460 A Crown..Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleepless nights. 1775 Med. Obs. & Inq. (1784) VI. v. 38, I afterwards passed..a good night. 1887 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Feb. 318/2 He had had a restless night, with intervals of sleep. 1894 Lancet 3 Nov. 1027 He had a very good night. |
e. Phr.
to make (or have) a night of it (or † on't): To spend the night in enjoyment or revelling. (
Cf. make v.
1 18 c.)
| [1602 Twelfth Nt. Merriment (1893) 4 Youle make as good a night of it heere as if you had beene at all the houses in the towne.] 1693 Congreve Old Bach. iv. ix, I'm resolved to make a night on't. 1701 Cibber Love makes Man i. i, Well! and didst thou make a Night on't, Boy? 1775 Sheridan Duenna iii. i, I' faith, we'll have a night of it. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas iv. vi. ¶8 He is going to make a night of it. 1885 Scribner's Mag. XXX. 393/2 Friends and neighbours also made a day of it, and then also a night of it, in honour of the departed. |
f. An evening or night devoted to the performance of a play, or of music by a specified composer or artist, or celebrations in honour of a particular person, etc.;
freq. with defining word prefixed, as in
first night (see
first a. (
n.)
and adv. C. 2).
Cf. quot. 1711 under sense 4 b.
| 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. 1793 in Ibid. v. 1584 Othello... Paid Music 4 Nights {pstlg}35 19s. 4d. 1842 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 XIII. 60 (caption) Melancholy scene at the opera on a Jenny Lind night. 1859 G. A. Sala Twice round Clock 260, I have brought you to her Majesty's Theatre, and this is unfortunately a Verdi night. 1861 Geo. 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. 1959 Observer 18 Jan. 14/4 The Burns Night circles the globe like a sputnik. 1969 M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. II. 346 Mrs. Dane's Defence ran for 209 nights on its first appearance. 1970 Listener 10 Sept. 326/3 The years of the romantic biographers and the Beethoven pianists, of Beethoven nights at the old Queen's Hall. |
g. the night, the first occasion on which a play, entertainment, etc., is publicly performed;
freq. in
phr. (it will be) all right on the night, an expression of optimism that a performance will go well when it is given publicly, even if rehearsals are unpromising; also
transf.| 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 Principles of Art xiv. 322 In the rehearsal of any given passage..the actors may move and speak exactly as they will ‘on the night’. 1939 S. Box in J. W. Marriott Best One-Act Plays of 1939 (1940) 296 Juliet. God-a-mercy! PROMPT!.. Nurse. Ah, well! 'Twill be all right on the night! 1949 Economist 23 July 172 The hope that the Atlantic Pact would ‘turn out all right on the night’. 1967 J. Gardner Madrigal ii. 22 Boysie..began to build up a mental block. It would be all right on the night, he thought with a nervous laugh. 1973 E. Lemarchand Let or Hindrance xiii. 165 Penny may fly off the handle, but she's always all right on the night. |
h. (Also
'night.) Ellipt. for
good night 1.
colloq.| 1912 Mulford & Clay Buck Peters, Ranchman viii. 92 ‘Good-night. I'm goin' to roost.’ ‘Night, Dave.’ 1922 Joyce Ulysses 589 Corny Kelleher. Good night, men. The Watch. (Saluting together.) Night, gentlemen. 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 tomorrow if you can manage.’ ‘Night, sir,’ Honeybody lumbered off. 1972 ‘H. Howard’ Nice Day for Funeral v. 80 ‘I could sleep standing up.’ ‘Then let's call it a day...’ ‘'Night...’ |
5. a. With possessive pronouns: The particular night on which a person performs some duty (
† receives visitors), etc. (In
quot. 1838
= benefit night.) Also
night out, the evening on which a domestic servant is free to go out; also, an evening or night spent in enjoyment or revelling away from one's home; a spree (
cf. out adv. 15 b); so
night off, a night free from work or one's usual duties.
| 1525 Aberd. Burgh Rec. (1844) 112 Personis..to be gottin amangis the haill toun, euerie ilk man his nycht about. 1760 C. Johnston 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. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xxiii, Whenever the announce bills came out for her annual night. 1885 A. Daly in A. Nicoll Hist. Eng. Drama 1660–1900 (1959) V. 333 (play-title) A night off; or, a page from Balzac. 1890 W. Booth In Darkest Eng. ii. v. 190 The weekly Church service or ‘night out’ with nowhere to go. 1908 G. Sanger Seventy Yrs. a Showman ix. 30 For these people Lansdown Fair was, as they put it, their ‘night out’. 1910 Blackw. Mag. Jan. 149/1 Mr. Lloyd-George declined to deliver a speech on the ground that it was ‘the Prime Minister's 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 Saturday xix. 152 ‘I'm staying late tonight.’ ‘Then we can't have our night out,’ she cried. 1947 N. Cardus Autobiogr. 277 Whenever his ‘night off’ occurred he bought a ticket. 1961 H. Pinter (title) A night out. |
b. The kind of night one has had, or usually has.
rare.
| 1667 Milton P.L. v. 93 Thus Eve her Night Related, and thus Adam answered sad. 1776 Johnson Let. 21 Oct. in Boswell, My nights are very restless and tiresome. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre xxviii, My night was wretched, my rest broken. |
II. In adverbial phrases.
6. a. night and day, always, continually.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark v. 5 Symle næht & dæᵹe in byrᵹennum & morum wæs. c 1200 Ormin 4694 Beo þu ȝeornfull nihht & daȝȝ To follȝhenn Godess wille. c 1230 Hali Meid. 20 Alde feond..scheoteð niht & dei his earewen. a 1300 Cursor M. 10421 Sco..weped and mornd night and dai. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 104 Bot nyht and day as I am now I schal alwey be such to yow. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 175 He puttis..gude wache and warde apon him nycht and day. 1486 Bk. St. Albans E ij b, Thynke what I say, my sonne, nyght and day. 1530 Hickscorner 47, I ever with them went..Night and daye towarde the way of ryghtwysenes. a 1586 Sidney Ps. i. i, He blessed is who..night and day..calls [God's law] to marking mind. 1828 Moir Mansie Wauch xxii, Maybe—..rowing night and day [he] got home in a safe skin. |
b. night (n)or day, by night or by day.
| 13.. Cursor M. 19715 (Gött.), Þair redis þarfor gun þai rune, ..Night or day to waite þe time. a 1450 Lydg. Merita Missæ in Lay Folks Mass Bk. 392 Which nyght nor day ne cesseth nought. 1707 Freind Peterborow's Cond. Sp. 205 My Lord never rested night or day, till he came to Tortosa. |
† c. the night, during the night, by night.
Obs.| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iv. 118 Forbeare to sleepe the night, and fast the day. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, iv. v. 126 Haue you a Ruffian that will sweare?.. Reuell the night? |
7. a. all, or the whole, night (long), throughout the night.
| c 1205 Lay. 29309 Þa burh born alle niht. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1002 Þat alle naȝt [so] much niye hade no mon in his hert. 1382 Wyclif Isa. lxii. 6 Al dai and al nyȝt euermar thei shul not be stille. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 505 in Babees Bk., A morter of wax..Þat alle nyȝt brennes in bassyn clere. 1535 Coverdale Gen. xix. 2 Turne in..into youre seruauntes house, and tarye all night. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. Prol. 5 The beimes of the Sone, al Scotland throuch, the hail nychte ar sein, the space of twa monethis. 1600 J. Dymmok Ireland (1843) 41 The rebells..never ceased to disquiet our men, the whole night longe. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 603 She all night long her amorous descant sung. 1754 Med. Obs. & Inq. (1776) I. xiii. 111 He continued the whole night totally blind, and without a wink of sleep. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. i. 5 He sat all night apart from the company. 1878 Tennyson Revenge viii, Ship after ship, the whole night long, their high-built galleons came. |
b. So
(all) the long night.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 807 Bot stylly þer in þe strete..Þay wolde lenge þe long naȝt & logge þeroute. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 36 But turne round about the pole, all the longe nyght. |
III. In prepositional phrases.
8. † a. on night, by night.
Obs. (
Cf. a-night.)
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxviii. 13 Cueðende cuoðað ᵹie þætte ðeᵹnas his on næht cuomun. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 242 Steorran æteowiað swilce on nihte. c 1200 Ormin 2960 Þatt godess enngell comm o nihht Till Josæp þær he sleppte. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1781 Laban hem bliscede, & on niȝt wente a-ȝen-ward. a 1300 Cursor M. 2973 Bot godd on night com to þe king in slepe. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 243 Art þou my perle þat I haf playned, Regretted by myn one, on nyȝte? c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ix. (Bartholomew) 60 A hundre syis one day kneland, & als of[t] one nichte prayand. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 506 in Babees Bk., To saue þo chambur on nyȝt for fyre. 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 298 That cumis on nycht in visioun in my sleip. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform. vii. 66 Bludy boucheouris and throtcutters, on nycht. |
b. by night, during the night, in the night-time. Also
by night and day, always, at any time. (
Cf. by prep. 19 b.)
| c 1220 Bestiary 63 A welle..ðat springeð ai boðe bi niȝt and bi dai. 13.. Cursor M. 6749 (Gött.), If..þe dede be don bi night, Þe smyter þan sal haue na plight. 1340 Ayenb. 52 Þet uolk þet late louieþ to soupi and to waki be niȝte. 1382 Wyclif Josh. ii. 2 Men ben goon yn hythir bi nyȝt. 1466 Anc. Cal. Rec. Dublin (1889) 325 For perayles that ben imynent of horsemen by nyght. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 20 Preamble, Archbold with other xl. outlawes..come by night to..Penreth Cotes. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. ii. 60 Time comes stealing on by night and day. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 514 Jacob..Dreaming by night under the open Skie. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 230 A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day. 1820 Shelley Hymn Merc. lxxxii, A joy by night or day—for those endowed With art and wisdom. 1885 Law Times Rep. LIII. 53/2 A tow which is being towed with a long scope of hawser by night. |
c. at night, at nightfall, in the evening. Also used to designate the hours from six p.m. to midnight. (
Cf. 9 b.)
| 13.. Sir Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1407 What nwez so þay nome, at naȝt quen þay metten. c 1375 Cursor M. 3931 (Fairf.), Iacob lay him stille atte naȝt. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 487 in Babees Bk., Þo lorde schalle skyft hys gowne at nyȝt. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccccxix. 733 The wednisday at night that y⊇ batayle was the next day. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. i. 42 Let euery man be master of his time Till seuen at Night. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 275 They give their Bodies due Repose at Night. 17.. in Herd Coll. Songs (1776) II. 159 By there came twa gentlemen At twelve o'clock at night. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxxii, At night, Oliver read a chapter or two from the Bible. |
d. (See
overnight, to-night.)
9. † a. on nights, by night (habitually). Also
o' nights and
in nights.
Obs. (
Cf. a-nights.)
| 1127–31 O.E. Chron. an. 1127 Soðfeste men heom kepten on nihtes. 1375 Barbour Bruce vii. 506 Fra Carleill all on nychtis ryde, And in covert on dayis byde. 1388 Wyclif's Sel. Wks. III. 488 Men mowe say þer Pater noster medefully under þo cope of heven, as Crist did in þo hille in nyȝttus. 1472 in Surtees Misc. (1890) 24 A ryotter on nyghtes. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. i. 83, I will ride thee o'Nights, like the Mare. Ibid. iv. 252 When wilt thou leaue fighting on dayes, and foyning on nights..? 1708 Bickerstaff Detected in Swift's Wks. (1751) IV. 210 A pack of Rascals that walk the Streets on Nights. [1823 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Amicus Redivivus, I have nothing but water in my head o' nights since this frightful accident.] |
b. at nights: (
cf. prec. and 8 c).
| 1581 Rich Farew. (1846) 198 At nightes she was lodged in her father's chamber. 1720 Humourist 9 At Nights..they had the Shelter of a Barn. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §283 Having first established, that they should quit the work at nights. Ibid. §304 Which, indeed, except at nights, would generally be the case. 1883 J. W. Sherer At Home & in India 6 The stout, beaming man now appears quite distinctly—coming from somewhere at nights in a post⁓chaise. |
c. of nights: (see
of 52 b).
10. on (upon), in, or of the night, by night, during the night. Now only with
in.
| c 1205 Lay. 5601 Al makeden heore faren alse ha wolden a þare niht faren. a 1300 Cursor M. 6196 Drightin self þam ledd þair wai.. Wit firen piler on [v.rr. apon, vpon] þe night. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxx. (Theodera) 288 To þat þing has he na sycht Þat thocht or don is in þe nycht. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxv. 117 Þis charbuncle lightnez all þe chaumbre on þe nyght. c 1440 Alph. Tales 115 He was tempid with grete ludificacions on þe nyght. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) E e vij b, 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. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 253 There sleepes Tytania, sometime of the night. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. i. 94 Thair heid..thay neuir couered in the nycht. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Suppl., Night angling, a method of catching..shy fish in the night. 1855 Wharton Crim. Law U.S. 598 The breaking and entering must be in the night. |
IV. attrib. and
Comb. 11. a. Objective (and
obj. genitive), as
night-bringing,
night-cheering,
night-dispersing,
night-slayer,
night-swaying.
| 1611 Cotgr., Nuicteux, nightly, *night-bringing. |
| 1824 T. Fenby Lover's Good Night vii, Softly, with *night-cheering beams, Yon moon rides thro' the cloudless sky. |
| 1851 C. L. Smith tr. Tasso v. lxxxv, When the *night-dispersing dawn arose. |
| 1839–52 Bailey Festus 137 Multitude of days Immortal as thy years, O *nightslayer! |
| c 1600 Chalkhill Thealma & Cl. (1683) 19 *Night-swaying Morpheus clothes the East in black. |
b. Instrumental, as
night-clad,
night-cloaked,
night-cradled,
night enshrouded,
night hid, etc.
| 1839–52 Bailey Festus 10, I see the stars, *night-clad, all gathering In long and sad procession. |
| 1851 H. Melville Whale xxix, To visit the *night-cloaked deck. |
| 1818 Shelley Woodman 18 The dull ear Of the *night-cradled earth. |
| 1859 Dickens T. Two Cities ii. xxiii, Along the *night⁓enshrouded roads. |
| 1601 Death Earl Huntington iii. iv. in Hazl. Dodsley VIII. 279 This cage of *night-hid owls, light⁓flying birds. |
| 1850 Lynch Theoph. Trinal v. 79 Her beams come to a *night-mantled home. |
| 1849 Longfellow Lighthouse v, It stands..the *night-o'ertaken mariner to save. |
| 1727–46 Thomson Summer 1681 Whose mournful chambers hold (So *night-struck fancy dreams) the yelling ghost. |
| 1776 Mickle tr. Camoens' Lusiad 330 By *night-veiled art proud Sylves falls his prey. 1881 H. Phillips tr. Chamisso's Faust 21 Yon night-veiled, hidden land of gloom. |
| 1652 Benlowes Theoph. Pref., Let them,..being *night wildred in their Intellects, prosecute their sensuality. |
| 1873 E. Brennan Witch of Nemi 118 Flames that made crimson all the *night-wrapt sky. |
c. Similative, as
night-black,
night-dark,
night-haired,
night-like,
night-swift.
| a 1591 H. Smith Serm. (1622) 467 As if we were *nightblacke rauens. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam i. lii, On nightblack columns poised. 1872 Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 1346 High on a nightblack horse, in nightblack arms. |
| 1879 E. Arnold Lt. Asia 39 The *night-dark steed. |
| 1839–52 Bailey Festus 100 My *night-haired love! so sweet she was. |
| 1821 Shelley Adonais (cancelled) 19 His dark and *night-like eyes. |
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 379 *Night⁓swift Dragons cut the clouds full fast. |
12. Adverbial, in sense of ‘by night’, ‘during the night’:
a. With
pres. pples., as
night-ambling,
night-blooming,
night-blowing,
night-contending, etc.
| 1600 Fairfax Tasso iv. xxvii, Of their *night ambling dame the Syrians prated. |
| 1835 Lindley Introd. Bot. (1839) 476 The flowers of the *night-blooming Cereus. 1866 Shuckard Brit. Bees 13 Our clients have nothing to do with these night-blooming flowers. |
| 1804 C. Smith Conversations, etc. II. 91 The..splendid Cactus Grandiflora, usually called the *night blowing Cereus. 1871 Kingsley At Last xvii, The Umbrella Rock, capped with..night⁓blowing Cereus. |
| 1817 Shelley Pr. Athan. i. 71 Tempest's war Is levied by the *night-contending winds. |
| 17.. Ramsay Lure 4 *Night-drinking sots [were] counting their lawin. |
| 1714 Gay Sheph. Week, Saturday 57 Will a' wisp misleads *night-faring clowns O'er hills. |
| a 1887 Jefferies Field & Hedgerow (1889) 228 There is no *night-feeding bird to feed the fern-owl's young. |
| 1824 Symmons Agamemnon 33 Dewy cover of *night freezing skies. |
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. i. 7 These *night-gaping foes, are trampled vnder foote. |
| 1639 S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 270 Who like unlucky *night-going fires lead him to precipitations. |
| 1801 Lamb Poems, etc. (1884) 205 *Night-riding Incubi Troubling the fantasy. |
| 1663 Dryden Rival Ladies i. iii, The lady..is seized by some *night-robbing villains. |
| 1811 Shelley St. Irvyne ii. i, The *night-rolling breath of the blast. |
| a 1631 Donne Holy Sonn. iii. 9 Th' hydroptic drunkard, and *night-scouting thief. |
| 1598 Marston Satires i. 61 *Night⁓shining Phœbe knowes what was begat—A monstrous Centaure, illegitimate. 1648 Wilkins Math. Magic ii. xi, These Noctilucæ or Night-shining Bodies. 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) III. 424 The night-shining Nereis. These minute creatures inhabit every sea. |
| 1857 Holland Bay Path xxxiii. 414 The *night-straying cow stumbled among them. |
| 1642 H. More Song of Soul ii. i. ii. xi, His glowing sight..all *night-trifling sprights doth chase away with fear. |
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. i. 87 Some *Night-tripping-Faiery had exchanged..our children. |
| 1667 Milton P.L. v. 40 Where silence yields To the *night-warbling Bird. |
b. With verbal
ns., as
night-angling,
night-breaking,
night-feeding,
night-firing,
night-fishing, etc. (
Cf. 13.)
| 1704 Dict. Rust., *Night angling; for this Angling in the Night-time, take two great Garden-worms. |
| a 1625 Sir H. Finch Law (1636) 217 Burglary is the *night-breaking of an house, with an intent to steale or kill. |
| 1845 D. P. Blaine in Youatt Dog ii. 37 More nutriment is derived from *night⁓feeding than by day. |
| 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 82/2 Collimator, an instrument for laying guns and mortars..for *night-firing. |
| 1653 Walton Angler 126 You are to know, there is *night as well as day fishing for a Trout. 1802 Daniel Field Sports II. 290 Night-fishing with a fly is best from May to the end of August. |
| 1862 N. Syd. Soc. Year-bk. Med. for 1861, 173 Some Results of *Night-nursing. |
| 1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot., *Night Poaching. |
| 1850 R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (1902) 139/1 This wound up my elephant *night-shooting. |
| 1559 R. Ascham in Babees Bk. (1868) 361 Beware of secrett corners and *night sitting vp, the two nurses of mischiefe. 1644 Milton Areop. Wks. 1851 IV. 416 Excus'd in the genial cups of an Academick night-sitting. |
| 1835 Longfellow Outre-Mer (1857) 375 This *night-travelling is..far from disagreeable. |
c. With
ppl. adjs., as
night-born,
night-fallen,
night-folded,
night-foundered,
night-haunted,
night-scented,
night-swollen.
| 1610 Nichols England's Eliza v, Error's *night-borne children. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ix. 2090 My solemn night⁓born adjuration hear. 1839–52 Bailey Festus 106 The cold pure radiance of the night-born light. |
| 1798 Bloomfield Farmer's Boy, Winter 333 And *night-fall'n Lambs require the Shepherd's care. 1828 Moore Ill Omens iii, She..kiss'd off its night-fallen dew. |
| 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. iii. iii. 101 *Night-folded flowers Shall suck unwithering hues in their repose. |
| 1634 Milton Comus 483 Som one like us *night-founder'd here. 1667 ― P.L. i. 204 The Pilot of some small night-founder'd Skiff. |
| a 1593 Marlowe Edw. II (Rtldg.) 191/2 The people..cannot brook a *night-grown mushroom. |
| 1859 Ld. Lytton Wanderer (ed. 2) 224 A wild *night-haunted track. |
| 1849 Balfour Man. Bot. §687 Hesperis tristis, or *night-scented stock. Ibid., The white flowers of Lychnis vespertina are also night-scented. |
| 1818 Keats Endym. i. 215 Are not our lowing heifers sleeker than *Night-swollen mushrooms? |
13. a. Attributive, in the senses ‘of night’, ‘belonging or pertaining to the night’, ‘existing, prevailing, taking place, etc., during the night’, as
night-air,
night alarm,
night-ascent,
night-attack,
night-blast,
night-brawl,
night-calm,
night-city,
night-class,
night-damp,
night-duty,
night-fancy,
night-fear,
night-fight,
night-flight,
night-haunt,
night-hospital,
night-lunch,
night-music,
night-noise,
night-nursery,
night-perfume,
night-raid,
night-rate,
night-rehearsal,
night-road,
night-school,
night-self,
night-smell,
night-sound,
night-speech,
night-talk,
night-town,
night-train,
night-web,
night-wonder,
night-world, etc.
| 1788 Ld. Auckland Jrnl. 25 June (1861) II. 55 He is afraid of the *night air. 1813 W. S. Walker Gustavus Vasa 145 Breaking the night-air's still repose. 1861 F. Nightingale Nursing ii. (ed. 2) 13 Another extraordinary fallacy is the dread of night air. |
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 171 Now play him..Arming to answer in a *night-Alarme. 1693 Congreve in Dryden's Juvenal xi. (1697) 295 If you wou'd be free from Night-alarms, You must seem Fond. |
| 1866 Chambers's Jrnl. Oct. 644/2 One *night-ascent has been made in this way. |
| 1844 Knickerbocker XXIII. 117, I knew that Indians in a *night attack make signals by imitating the cry of some animal. 1893 F. Adams New Egypt 242 The most difficult and dangerous operation in warfare—a night attack. 1952 R. Campbell tr. Baudelaire's Poems 127 Like enemies preparing night-attacks. |
| 1813 Scott Trierm. iii. viii, The *night-blast that wildy bore Its course along the hill. |
| a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal vi. (1673) 91 And so scape *Night-brawls. |
| 1774 Mason Poems 169 (Jod.), Not a *night breeze wakes to blow. 1858 J. Martineau Stud. Chr. 59 The night-breeze on his brow. |
| 1817–19 Wordsworth MS. in E. de Selincourt Prelude (1959) 136 The *night-calm over sea and land. |
| c 1616 Fletcher & Mass. Thierry & Theod. iii. ii, They sit Upon my heart like *night charms, black and heavy. |
| 1970 T. Hughes Crow 55 Seeing the *night-city..He bellows laughter. |
| 1891 A. Beardsley Let. July (1971) 24 Two hours' daily work is quite sufficient for me, so, as you suggest, I mean to attend *night classes. 1936 N. Coward Fumed Oak i, in Tonight at 8.30 II. i. 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! |
| 18.. Campbell Soldier's Dream Wks. (1837) 100 The *night-cloud had lowered. |
| 1639 Drummond of Hawthornden Consid. to Parl. Wks. (1711) 187 At all Assemblies, especially the *Night-conventions. |
| 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick III. xliv. 250 The unheeded *night-damp gathered in beads of dew upon that stone-carved coat and hat. |
| a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal (1673) 42 Now view *night-dangers, and the dreadful height Of our house-tops. |
| 1645 Rutherford Tryal & Tri. 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. |
| 1665 Dryden Ind. Emp. iii. ii, Sleeping Flowers beneath the *night-dew sweat. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 366 Sleeping in the open air.., while the serenados, or night-dews, were gathering around him. |
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter xc. 5 (Egerton), Noght saltou drede for *niht-drede. |
| 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles iii. 58 The Pagan Diviners had their *night-dreams or day-visions whereby they divined things. |
| 1894 Daily News 12 Sept., The first occasion on which he has done *night-duty alone. 1921 A. Christie Mysterious Affair at Styles viii. 170 She had kindly offered to remain on night duty. 1959 [see beigel]. 1966 J. Bingham Double Agent vi. 93 The phone rang. It was the Night Duty Officer with a deciphered message from Vienna. 1973 ‘B. Mather’ Snowline vii. 83 Mukherjee wasn't at the [police] station, and the night duty havildar couldn't tell me where he was. |
| 1863 Longfellow Wayside Inn, Landlord's Tale 43 Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead, In their *night-encampment on the hill. |
| 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. lxxxviii. 226 Dreams..and *night-fancies of a miserable life of sin. 1823 C. Lamb Elia 156 My night-fancies have long ceased to be afflictive. 1904 W. H. Hudson Green Mansions xxii. 292 Half-delirious night-fancies. |
| 1823 C. Lamb Elia 148 (heading) Witches, and other *night-fears. |
| 1923 Kipling Irish Guards in Gt. War I. 7 The 3rd Coldstream Guards..beat off that attack in a *night-fight. |
| 1830 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. 1973 L. Cooper Tea on Sunday xxxi. 228, I must get a plane to Milan tonight..a night flight. |
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis iv. (Arb.) 115 Thus sayd, through *nightfog he vannisht. 1811 Scott Don Roderick ii. ii, The river's night-fog rolling damp. |
| 1576 Baker Jewell of Health 64 The water also deliuereth the *night formes of Venus in sleepe. |
| 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xxvi. (1818) II. 462 We not unfrequently have sharp *night-frosts in summer. |
| 1798 W. Sotheby tr. Wieland's Oberon (1826) I. 93 Where chill the *night-gale blows. |
| 1633 Ford 'Tis Pity v. v, Hath your new sprightly lord Found out a trick in *night-games? |
| 1820 Keats Isabella xxxvi, Hoarse *night-gusts sepulchral briars among. |
| 1817 Edin. Rev. XXIX. 9 In the..*night-halts of her luxurious progress. |
| 1859 A. J. Munby Diary 20 Mar. in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 28 A large & still flourishing crop of secret dens & *night haunts. 1950 G. Greene Third Man xi. 96 He might have been in any third-rate night haunt in any other shabby capital. |
| 1821 Bryant Ages xiv, Like the *night-heaven, when clouds are black with rain. |
| 1963 *Night hospital [see day-hospital s.v. day n. 23]. 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. |
| 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. x. 77 The upper half of the Circle..is the Day-hours, and the lower..half is the *Night-hours. 1830 Mrs. Hemans Charmed Picture Poems (1849) 459/1 The night⁓hour's haunted calm. |
| 1849 C. Brontë Shirley xviii, Another disturbance broke the *night-hush. |
| a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Hist. Jas. III, Wks. (1711) 41 By *Night-journeys, shifting from Place to Place. |
| 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. |
| 1861 Clough Mari Magno 918 Swift the *night-mail conveyed his missive on. 1884 Pae Eustace 110 The night mail from the north reached its destination in Edinburgh. |
| a 1806 Fox Jas. II, iii. 212 After the disastrous *night march from Killerne. 1849 Grote Greece ii. liii. (1862) IV. 509 He advanced by a night-march to the temple. |
| 1614 Purchas Pilgrimage viii. v. (ed. 2) 760 The many faults (as they report) of Mariners in priuate truckings and *night-marts. |
| 1870 Bryant Iliad II. xxiv. 407 They found the guard engaged With their *night-meal. |
| 1662 Hibbert Body Div. I. 252 The Protestants in their *night-meetings committed most abominable uncleannesse. |
| 1853 Kingsley Hypatia xi, The..sun rose swiftly through the dim *night-mist of the desert. |
| 1910 W. de la Mare Three Mulla-Mulgars ix. 128 It pleased Battle mightily, this *night-music—music of all the kinds they knew, white man's, Jaqquamusic, Nugga-music, and Mulla-mulgars’. 1952 M. J. Ward (title) A little night Music. |
| 1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring i. xii. 214 He lay tossing and turning and listening fearfully to the stealthy *night-noises. |
| 1844 T. Webster Encycl. Domestic Econ. xxvi. i. 1189 *Night nurseries require little furniture beyond bedding, and utensils for washing and bathing. 1937 Night nursery [see buddy n.]. 1974 J. Pope-Hennessy R. L. Stevenson i. 34 Louis's night-nursery..was a small room to the east of the day-nursery. |
| 1608 Shakes. Per. v. iii. 70 Pure Dian..! I Will offer *night-oblations to thee. |
| 1632 Heywood Four Prentices i. Wks. 1874 II. 220 Making the darke *night-pathes shine bright as day. |
| 1693 Dryden Juvenal i. (1697) 8 When *Night-performance holds the place of Merit. |
| 1918 E. Sitwell Clown's Houses 7 Tulip-trees Spilling *night-perfumes on the terraces. |
| 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles iii. 81 Content not thy self with..dark spurious, false, *night-philosophie. |
| 1852 Grote Greece ii. lxx. IX. 124 Taking up their *night-post at a distance..from the Grecian position. |
| 1932 Auden Orators 110 The shamming dead, the *night-raid, the feinted retreat. |
| 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes. iv. xx. 268 Witches are confin'd in their *night rambles to egge shels. |
| 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.’ |
| 1729 Law Serious C. xxiii. (1732) 470 It should be a constant part of his *night recollection. |
| 1726 Pope Odyss. xx. 172 In vain the Queen the *night-refection prest. |
| 1812 Dramatic 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 Reminiscences 98 We rehearsed the piece, without music, after which a night rehearsal, including the orchestra, was called. |
| 1607 Shakes. Timon iv. i. 17 Domesticke awe, *Night-rest and Neighbourhood. |
| 1933 W. de la Mare Fleeting 42 The empty *night-road to the sea. |
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 5 How now mad spirit, What *night-rule now about this haunted groue? |
| 1529 More Dyaloge iii. Wks. 240/1 Other could we not come by, whome we mighte further examine of that *nyghte scole. 1780 New Jersey Jrnl. 22 Nov. 4/2 Wanted, to be bound, a Boy;..he shall be..sent to night school if required. 1858 Night-school [see cottage lecture s.v. cottage 6]. 1894 S. Fiske Holiday Stories (1900) 136 Will you go to night-school and learn? 1973 E.-J. Bahr Nice Neighbourhood i. 14, I met Don at night school. He was learning to be an accountant. |
| 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. |
| 1650 Stapylton Strada's Low C. Wars iii. 61 At..these *night-sermons, tumults were raised. |
| 1594 in Nichols Progr. Q. Eliz. (1823) III. 284 All requisite service, be it *night-service or otherwise,..to all ladis. |
| 1618 Barnevelt's Apol. G 2 b, Out yee Popish knaues, sonnes of darkenesse, and *night shadows. 1847 M. Howitt Ballads 380 Till the night-shadows dimmed the glen. |
| 1629 Maxwell tr. Herodian (1635) 302 Chariot-races, Stage⁓plaies, Feasts and *Night-shewes. |
| 1865 Mrs. Whitney Gayworthys iii. (1879) 32 Waiting in the *night-shine at the open door. |
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. v. 11 My sences would have cool'd To heare a *Night-shrieke. 1647 Stapylton Juvenal 41 Let me live where no night-shrieks terrify. |
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. ix. (Bodl. MS.), Þese signes..that beþ watery and erthy beþ colde and femule and *nyȝt signes. |
| 1790 Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. II. 409 A very gross defect or impropriety in the *night-signals at present in use. 1812 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 2 At about ten o'clock the night-signal was made to alter the course. |
| 1869 Dunkin Midn. Sky 155 The summer *night-sky. |
| c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives xxiii. 442 Þæt ilce geþanc..þe heom amang þam *niht-slæpe wæs on heora heortan. 1835 Lytton Rienzi i. i, Let us keep it for our night-sleep. |
| 1936 C. Morgan Sparkenbroke iv. iv. 344 From the darkness of the garden came the soft patter of invisible rain and the earthy *night-smell of plants. |
| 1904 W. H. Hudson Green Mansions xx. 272 Nor had I any choice then but to listen to the *night-sounds of the forest. 1953 S. Beckett Watt 33 Listening to the little nightsounds in the hedge behind him. |
| 1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring ii. vi. 352, I hear nothing but the *night-speech of plant and stone. |
| 1849 Grote Greece ii. xlix. VI. 265 The Athenian captain had really gone back to take *night-station on his own coast. |
| 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 681/1 *Night stealthes which (are commonlye driven in by-wayes and by blinde foordes). |
| 1811 Shelley St. Irvyne ii. iii, Whilst the tide of the *night-storm is rolling. |
| 1761 Biogr. Dict. II. 9 His constitution..was weakened still more by the intemperance of his *night-studies. |
| 1910 W. de la Mare Three Mulla-Mulgars iv. 51 Soon the long-billed river-birds began their *night-talk across the water. |
| 1811 Shelley St. Irvyne ii. ii, Oft have I brav'd the chill *night-tempests fury. |
| 1742 Young (title) The Complaint: or, *Night-thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. iii, The utterance of such extraordinary Night-thoughts. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 422 The Mabbot street entrance of *nighttown. Ibid. 598 A word of caution re the dangers of nighttown, women of ill fame and swell mobsmen. 1971 Guardian Weekly 5 June 18 Where all seeing readers join is in delight at the architecture of his [sc. Maurice Sendak's] Manhattan nighttown of towering pots and packets and jars. |
| 1848 C. Brontë Let. 4 Sept. in Studies in Bibliogr. (1971) XXIV. 103 Anne & I..walked through a thunderstorm to the station, got to Leeds and whirled up by the *Night train to London. 1885 R. Buchanan Annan Water xxiv, To pack up his things for the night-train to Scotland. 1954 T. S. Eliot Confid. Clerk i. 30 We took the night train, and did the Channel crossing. |
| 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. lxxxviii. 226 Bewitched with dreams, shadows,..*night-vanities. |
| 1671 Woodhead St. Teresa ii. xxxiii. 220 There were frequent *Night-Vigils kept there. |
| 1827 Clare Sheph. Cal. 111 The pale *Night-waggon driving through the sky. |
| 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 158 His Companions..began to lead him forth..to *night walks also. 1687 Norris Misc. 38 Our Wiser Ghosts thy silent Night-walks love. |
| 13.. Seuyn Sages (W.) 2621 He com to the galewes, armed wel..For to make the first *night-ward. |
| 1906 Hardy Dynasts II. vi. v. 276 Is it where sky-fires flame and flit, Or solar craters spew and spit, Or ultra-stellar *night-webs knit? |
| 1909 E. Pound Personae 22 The strange *night-wonder of your eyes Dies not. |
| 1939 Dylan Thomas Map of Love 75 The clean winter sounds of the *nightworld. |
b. With names of things (intended to be) worn or used during the night, as
night-attire,
night-bait,
night-basket,
night-bell,
night-express,
night-ferry,
night-latch,
night-refuge,
night-shelter,
night-sock,
night-stand,
night-suit,
night-wrapper, etc.
| 1597 Drayton Bar. Wars vi. lv, She sat under an estate of lawn, In *night-attire. 1640 R. Brathwait Lanc. Lovers xv. (E.D.D.), She found a mammet or feature so artificially made up in her night-attire. |
| 1716 J. S. Compl. Fisher title-p., Baiting of the Ground, and *Night Baits. |
| 1814 Sporting Mag. XLIV. 103 You escape behind a lazarone's *night-basket. |
| 1832 Marryat N. Forster xliv, A *night bell..was attached to one side of the street door. 1884 Harper's Mag. Mar. 562/1 You ought to break the wire of his night bell. |
| 1811 Ora & Juliet I. 124 Then by her *night candle she..began a letter. |
| 1828 Blackw. Mag. XXIII. 297 The Hebrew women, who..had been accustomed to wear no *night-chemises at all. |
| 1654 D. Osborne Lett. (1888) 246 Going out to walk in my *night-cloak and night-gown. |
| 1885 Warren & Cleverly Wanderings Beetle 69 The distant hills shaking off their *night-clothing of mist. |
| 1578 in Nichols Progr. Q. Eliz. (1823) II. 78 A *night-coyf with a forehead clothe of..Spanysh worke of roses. 1855 C. Kingsley Westw. Ho! v, Lady Grenvile, putting her beautiful face in its night-coif out of an adjoining door. |
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. Wks. 1724 II. 682 The best..*night-deckings. |
| a 1776 James Diss. Fevers (ed. 8) 113, I took..a few *night draughts, to give me rest. 1821 Scott Kenilw. vi, Beside it stood a gold posset dish to contain the night-draught. |
| 1731 Gentl. Mag. I. 167, 1 odd *Night Ear-ring, with 3 Brilliant Diamonds. |
| 1877 J. Blackwood Let. 25 June in Geo. Eliot's 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. |
| 1954 I. Murdoch Under Net xiii. 188, I set off to Victoria to catch the *night ferry. 1967 E. Wymark As Good as Gold xiv. 200, I gave them Camilla's address on the Avenue Foch. I omitted to mention that she was already on the Night Ferry. |
| 1769 Pennant Brit. Zool. III. 191 note, Neither was any body to fish from sun-setting to sun-rising, that the fish might enjoy their *night-food. |
| 1835 Marryat Olla Podr. (Routl.) 271 Remove my *night-gloves. |
| 1897 E. L. Taunton Eng. Black Monks I. 78 He changed his *night-habit for his day one and washed. |
| 1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal 84 Th' imperiall strumpet..stole out In her *night-hoods. 1663 Roxb. Ball. (1890) VII. 83 He gives her rings, and..fan or muff, or night-hood. |
| 1653 Walton Angler 121 This kind of fishing with a dead rod, and laying *night-hooks. 1772 Forster in Phil. Trans. LXIII. 153 After sunset, it is caught by a night-hook. 1821 Sporting Mag. IX. 69 Night-hooks for pike. |
| 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. viii, Mrs. Squeers came in, still habited in the primitive *night jacket. |
| 1860 Worcester, *Night Key. 1888 A. K. Green Behind Closed Doors vi, I do not give night-keys to any one but the doctor. |
| 1857 J. Raine Mem. J. Hodgson I. 287 Sheep-folds, or *night-lairs as they were called. |
| 1854 O. S. Fowler Home for All 113 The front door..secured..with a *night-latch and two keys. 1967 Karch & Buber Offset Processes viii. 321 Turn night latch lever to ‘night latch’ position. |
| a 1672 Sterry Wks. (1710) ii. 261 The World is his *Night-Mantle, his Pavilion of Darkness. |
| 1630 Drayton Muses' Elys., Nymphal vii, Fine *night-masks, plaster'd well within, To supple wrinkles, and to smooth the skin. |
| 1764 Museum Rust. III. 286 The game is wretchedly destroyed by poachers, who take it with *night-nets. |
| 1809 E. S. Barrett Setting Sun III. 145 The ‘Wise Men of the East’, bearing *night-pans as censers. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 433 A warmed night-pan should be used to prevent the patient getting out of bed. |
| 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. ii. ii, Which of your grooms..ministers *Night-physic to you? |
| 1832 G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 271, I speculated..on what appeared to be a short cut to our *night-quarters. 1852 Grote Greece ii. lxx. IX. 124 They could only reach their night-quarters. |
| 1872 B. Jerrold London xxi. 185 We are in the receiving home of a *night refuge—the home of the ragged scholars whom Lord Shaftesbury has befriended—of the wild young clients of the devoted city missionaries. 1911 Rep. Labour & Social Conditions in Germany (Tariff Reform League) III. 223 We also had a visit to the Berlin night refuge. |
| 1910 W. de la Mare Three Mulla-Mulgars xiii. 177 They would sneak off and hide in their *night-shelter. 1941 Times (Weekly ed.) 5 Feb. 4 Hours spent in night-shelters and tours of devastated areas. |
| 1899 in A. Adburgham Shops & Shopping (1964) xxii. 261 *Night socks and hose. 1906 Galsworthy Man of Property 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. |
| 1961 John o' London's 28 Sept. 345/1 This won't be a show-off collection [of books]. Rather, a cross-section of what's on my *night-stand. |
| 1939 C. Day Lewis Child of Misfortune 195 Oliver watched her fastening two children's *night-suits. |
| 1788 Holcroft Baron Trenck (1886) ii. 59, I took care to make a stir in my *night-table. 1871 Carlyle in Mrs. C.'s Lett. I. 208 The policeman's ‘rattle’ was a thing she actually had on her night-table. |
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. i. 172 The honie-bags steale from the humble Bees, And for *night-tapers crop their waxen thighes. 1623 Featly Fisher Catched Ep. Ded., Those glorious night-tapours, which were set so thick together in the streets. |
| 1844 Alb. Smith Adv. Mr. Ledbury (1856) I. x. 72 There are no *night-taverns, as in London. |
| 1803 M. Charlton Wife & Mistress I. 137, I stood upon the stairs with only my *night-things on. 1852 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 166, I rendered myself at Paddington station..with my night-things in a bag. |
| 1621 R. Brathwait Nat. Embassie (1877) 102 Put a *night-tyre on it's ivorie head. |
| 1863 Kingsley Water-Bab. 31 When she had put her head out of the window, her *night-wig fell into the garden. |
| 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. 12 The other had a *night [w]rap of greene satten. |
| 1863 A. D. Whitney Faith Gartney's Girlhood ix. 78 Miss Sampson entered..to put on her *night-wrapper and make ready for her watch. |
c. With names denoting persons or agents,
esp. such as act, or are on duty or abroad, during the night, as
night-attendant,
night-brawler,
night-clerk,
night-editor,
night guard,
night nurse,
night-patrol,
night people,
night police,
night porter,
night sister,
night tourist, etc.
| 1862 N. Syd. Soc. Year-bk. Med. for 1861, 173 Robertson requires the *night-attendants to visit all the habitually dirty patients at fixed times. |
| 1604 Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 196 You..spend your rich opinion, for the name Of a *night⁓brawler. |
| 1897 Howells Landlord at Lion's Head 85 The witness of a hotel *night-clerk. |
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 140 [They] beden that men sholde Kepen it fro *niȝt⁓comeres. |
| 1868 M. H. Smith Sunshine & Shadow in New York lxxviii. 639 Henry Winson is city editor, and Governier Carr is *night editor. 1873 Night editor [see day editor s.v. day n. 24]. 1949 Time 30 May 69/1 Stewart..had been night editor, sports editor and state editor of the Scripps-Howard Press. 1973 R. L. Simon Big Fix (1974) xx. 174 Ask for the night editor. |
| 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. ix, Hall and Brown were *night-fags last week. |
| 1863 Times 16 June., That most indefatigable and restless of *night farers, the whip⁓poor-will. |
| 1833 J. Rennie Alph. Angling 49 Most fish are peculiarly *night-feeders. |
| 1813 Scott Rokeby vi. iv, All the nameless tools that aid *Night-felons in their lawless trade. |
| a 1810 Shelley M. Nicholson, Despair, 7 Can the fierce *night-fiends rest on yonder hill? |
| 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xxi. (1818) II. 265 The infinite hosts of moths.., with few exceptions, are all *night-fliers. |
| 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iv. iii. 22 To defend his Person from *Night-foes. |
| 1552 Huloet, Hegges or *nyght furyes.., which do sucke the bloude of children in the nyght, striges. |
| 1642 W. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 302 The *night goers cause some suspicion, and presage no good. |
| 1717 Pope Iliad x. 147 Between the trench and gates, Near the *night-guards, our chosen council waits. 1914 ‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions xvi. 128 ‘Night Guard,’ said the Lieutenant curtly. |
| 1784 G. White Selborne ix, The deer..are much thinned and reduced by the *night-hunters. 1810 Sporting Mag. XXXVI. 257 Night-Hunters or poachers..have, of late years, grown to be a very numerous body. |
| 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. iii, Where they found the *Night-Inspector. |
| 1764 Museum Rust. III. 286 Not a single *night-netter has been on his grounds on horse back. |
| 1844 *Night-nurse [see day-nurse s.v. day n. 23 c]. 1944 A. Thirkell Headmistress ii. 36 The day nurse went off duty and the night nurse came on. 1971 ‘F. Clifford’ Blind Side v. i. 190 Doctor O'Sullivan reckons Mrs. Lawrence needs a regular night nurse. |
| a 1719 Addison tr. Petronius Arbiter (1736) 13 Must thou make a Noise, thou *Night-Pad? |
| 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. 1971 B. Patten Irrelevant Song 64 Leave it out among the night-patrols and the lovers. |
| 1957 N.Y. Post 20 Sept. M4 *Night people, the professor and his wife used to retire at about 2.30 or 3 a.m. 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. |
| 1823 Edin. Rev. XXXIX. 51 *Night-poachers are transported for seven years. |
| 1877 E. S. Phelps Story of Avis 153 To recommend to the Faculty a stricter régime of *night police for those boys. |
| 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. xliv, The *night-porter examined me with much attention. 1887 in C. E. Pascoe Joyous Neighbourhood Covent Garden 126 (Advt.), Rougemont hotel, Exeter... Night porter on patrol. 1963 N. Marsh Dead Water (1964) ix. 231 The night porter was reading behind his desk. 1969 H. MacInnes Salzburg Connection viii. 118 A little late, perhaps, to telephone but he knew the night porter there. |
| 1646 Trapp Comm. John vii. 50 Nicodemus was only a *night professor, Judas in the sight of all. |
| 1813 Byron Giaour 44 Rush the *night-prowlers on the prey. |
| 1709 W. Dampier Voy. (1729) II. i. 77 There is a pair of Stocks by every Watch-House, to secure *Night Ramblers in. 1853 James Agnes Sorel (1860) I. 4 A group of night-ramblers walked along. |
| 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 681/1 Wherby theeves and *night robbers might be more easely pursued. 1649 Roberts Clavis Bibl. 556 Edom shall be wholly spoiled, more then an house by Night-robbers. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 362 The hardiness of the night-robber. |
| 1814 G. Hanger To All Sportsmen 96 That desperate gang of *night-shooters is totally broken up. |
| 1886 E. C. E. Lückes Hospital 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. 1920 F. Norton Duties of Sisters in Small Hospitals v. 54 The routine duties of the Night Sister consist in taking the day report, making periodical visits to the wards, supervising the admission of accidents and of emergency operation cases. 1934 P. Bottome Private Worlds 3 The door of the night-sister's room was open. 1958 Night-sister [see Garbo1]. 1973 ‘E. Peters’ City of Gold & Shadows xii. 191 The night sister on duty was an old friend. |
| 1611 Florio, Ciuettini,..wanton or effeminate lads, *night-sneakers. |
| 1707 J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 55 A Spark, who boasted he did not fear any Spirits or *Night-Specters. |
| a 1591 H. Smith Wks. (1866) I. 269 These *night-spirits begat purgatory.., as one serpent hatcheth another. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 357 To sleepe securely, without any dread of night-spirits. |
| c 1820 S. Rogers Italy (1839) 97 To be proclaimed a ruffian, a *night-stabber. |
| 1640 Bp. Reynolds Passions Wks. (1679) 636 *Night-talkers, who cannot be said to be thoroughly asleep, nor perfectly awaked. |
| 1382 Wyclif John x. 10 A *niȝt theef cometh not, no but that he stele, and sle, and leese. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1082 Night-thieves, house-breakers. |
| 1963 L. Deighton Horse under Water v. 28 They send me on a *Night Tourist aeroplane. 1971 P. Purser Holy Father's Navy xviii. 88 The last plane will have gone, anyway. Unless there are night tourist flights. |
| 1802 Bloomfield Rural Tales 64 The lone *night-trav'ller's fancy. |
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 255/1 A *Nighte waker, noctivagus. |
d. With the names of animals, birds, etc. (sometimes in specific use), as
night-ape,
night-beast,
night-butterfly,
night-churr,
night-cod,
night-crake,
night-cur,
night-dog,
night-fowl,
night-gnat,
night-herring,
night-monkey,
night-monster,
night-moth,
night-swallow,
night-wale,
night-warbler. Also
fig., as
night-bat,
night-hound,
night-howlet,
night-steed,
night-toad.
night snake, a name used for several nocturnal African snakes.
| 1863 Bates Nat. Amazon xii. (1864) 396 A third interesting genus of monkeys found near Ega are the nyctipitheci, or *night-apes. |
| 1658 tr. Bergerac's Satyr. Charac. xii. 47, I send..the Hob-goblins, the haggs, the *night bats. 1847 Halliwell, Night-bat, a ghost. North. |
| 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme vii. xliii. 872 The flesh of *night-beastes, that is to say such as flie about in the night. |
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 188 The *night Butterflie, that flieth about the candell. 1743 M. Catesby Nat. Hist. (1754) II. 84 The four⁓eyed Night Butterfly..(Phalæna Luna). |
| 1855 Orr's Circle Sci., Org. Nat. III. 343 It is to this note that the bird is indebted for its name of Nightjar or *Nightchurr. |
| 1888 Goode Amer. Fishes 343 Sometimes a school of Codfish will bite at night; these the fishermen call ‘*Night Cod’. |
| c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 639/40 Hec nicticorax, *nyght⁓crake. |
| 1576 Fleming tr. Caius' Dogs in Arb. Garner III. 241 Farmers..call this kind of dog a *Night Cur; because he hunteth in the dark. |
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 252 When *night-dogges run, all sorts of Deere are chac'd. c 1616 Fletcher & Mass. Thierry & Theod. i. i, Let night-dogs tear me..Ere I forsake my sphere! 1824 Symmons æschylus' Agamemnon 3 Like a night-dog still Fix'd to my post. 1883 R. Groom Great Dane 13 He has been used as a night-dog with great success. |
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 142 Þe *nihtfuel ulið bi nihte, & biȝit ine þeosternesse his fode. 1830 Tennyson Mariana 26 Waking she heard the night⁓fowl crow. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 248/1 *Night gnat, singalle. |
| 1758 Binnell Descr. Thames 227 Fishers distinguish their Herrings into six different Sorts: As the Fat Herring,..the *Night Herring which is of a middle Size. |
| 1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 30 The Constable..let loose a couple of his *Night-hounds. |
| 1817 Scott Rob Roy xxxiv, O, the most egregious *night-howlets! |
| 1871 Kingsley At Last xvii, A beautiful little *Night-Monkey, belonging to the Purser. 1896 O. Forbes Hand-bk. Primates I. 152 The Night-Monkeys are small and elegant animals covered with long hair. |
| 1611 Bible Isa. xxxiv. 14 The shrichowle [marg., Or, *night-monster] also shall rest there. |
| 1859 Meredith R. Feverel xliii. A large white *night-moth flitted through the dusk. 1895 C. Holland Japanese Wife 69 Huge, soft-winged night-moths which circle round the light of our lanterns. |
| 1931 R. L. Ditmars Snakes of World ix. 93 The so-called Bush Snakes or *Night Snakes are rear-fanged species. 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. 1962 V. F. M. FitzSimons Snakes S. Afr. 112/1 Lamprophis aurora... Aurora- or Night-snake. |
| 1841 Bryant Hunter's Serenade Wks. (1891) 122 The *night-sparrow trills her song All night, with none to hear. |
| 1629 Milton Hymn Nativ. xxvi, The yellow-skirted Fayes, Fly after the ‘*Night-steeds, leaving their Moonlov'd maze. 1799 Campbell Pleas. Hope Wks. (1837) 32 Chased on his night-steed by the star of day. |
| 1840 Penny Cycl. XVI. 223/2 Night-Jars, the English name of those *Night-Swallows vernacularly termed Goat-suckers. |
| 1681 Otway Soldier's Fort. v. i, Get ye gone, ye Dogs, ye Rogues, ye *Night Toads. |
| 15.. Parl. Byrdes 161 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 175 Then said the *night whale with his hed gray, He shameth us with his parlament aray. |
| 1885 Swainson Prov. Names Birds 27 The name of *night warbler is also given to this bird [the reed-sparrow], because its cry may be heard at almost all hours. |
e. With names of plants, as
night-jasmine,
night-tree,
night-weed,
night-willow-herb.
night-primrose = evening-primrose (
evening n.1 5 b);
night stock = night-scented stock (sense 14).
| 1866 Treas. Bot. 796/2 Nyctanthes, Arbor tristis, the *Night-Jasmine of India, is a shrub or small tree of the Jasminaceæ. 1881 Cable Mme. Delphine ix. 49 The bush of night-jasmine. |
| 1759 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. (ed. 7) s.v. Œnothera. Tree Primrose... From the Flower opening in the Evening, many Persons call it the *Night Primrose. 1849 Craig, 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. |
| 1918 D. H. Lawrence New Poems 33 The *night-stock oozes scent. |
| 1849 Southey's Comm-pl. Bk. II. 494 The Singadi, or *Night-Tree. |
| 1796 Campbell Scene in Argylesh., The *night⁓weed and thorn overshadowed the place. |
| 1847 Darlington Amer. Weeds (1860) 136 Biennial Œnothera. Evening Primrose. *Night Willow-herb. |
14. Special combs, as
night-adapted a. = dark-adapted ppl. adj. s.v. dark n. 6;
night adder, a nocturnal, venomous, African viper of the genus
Causus,
esp. C. rhombeatus, a grey snake with darker patches, common in southern Africa;
night-bag, a travelling-bag containing necessaries for the night;
† night-blain, a chilblain;
night-blood, blood drawn from a patient by night, for microscopical examination;
night-blooming cereus, one of several tropical plants belonging to the genera
Hylocereus and
Selenicereus of the family Cactaceæ,
esp. H. undulatus, having very large, fragrant, white flowers that open only at night;
night-blue, a recent name for various blues,
esp. those which retain the colour under artificial light; also
attrib. or as adj.;
night-boat, (
a) a boat used by night; (
b) a passenger-boat which crosses by night;
night-bolt, an inside bolt serving to secure a door by night;
night bomber, an aircraft that drops bombs at night; also, the pilot of such an aircraft; hence
night-bombing;
† night-book (?);
night-bound a., bound, confined, or impeded by night or darkness;
night-box = boîte de nuit;
† night-cape,
fig. a wife;
night-cart, a cart used in removing filth by night;
† night-cat (see
quot.);
night chain, a chain for securing a door at night;
night-climber, one who climbs on buildings at night,
esp. at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; so
night-climbing;
night clock, a clock which is illuminated so that it can be seen in the dark;
night-cloud, the form of cloud known as
stratus;
night-club,
† (
a)
U.S. = night-stick; (
b) a club or similar establishment that opens at night,
usu. providing food, drink, and entertainment; also
attrib.; hence
night-club v. trans. and intr., to take or go to a night-club;
night-clubber, one who frequents night-clubs;
night-clubbing, the frequenting of night-clubs;
night-clubby a., characteristic or fond of night-clubs;
night-coach, (
a) a coach that travels at night; (
b)
U.S., a commercial aircraft providing a night service;
night crawler N. Amer., a large earthworm,
esp. one caught at night to be used as bait in fishing;
night cream, cosmetic cream that is applied to the face at night;
night-dial,
† (
a) a transparent clock-dial or face which is lighted from behind at night; (
b) a dial which shows the time by means of the moon's shadow (
Cent. Dict.);
night-driving, the driving of a motor vehicle at night; also
attrib.; so
night-drive v. intr., to drive a motor vehicle at night;
night-eater (
nonce-wd.), a flea;
night effect, irregularity of the strength and apparent 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; so
night error;
night eye, (
a)
U.S. = chestnut 6; (
b) an eye adapted for seeing in the dark (
usu. pl.);
night-eyed a., capable of seeing in the night-time;
† night-farmer = gong-farmer (
gong n.1);
night-fighter, a fighter (
fighter 3) used, or designed for use, at night; also, the pilot of such an aircraft; also
attrib.; so
night-fighting;
night-flowering cereus = night-blooming cereus;
† night-foe, a chilblain;
night-fossicker Austral. Hist., a nocturnal thief of gold dust or quartz; so
night-fossicking;
night-herd N. Amer., the herding or guarding of cattle at night; hence as
v. intr. and trans., to herd or guard (cattle) at night;
night-herder, one who night-herds;
night-herding, the work of a night-herder;
† night-hooker, one who steals by night;
night-horse, (
a) a horse used for work at night; (
b) a punning alteration of
nightmare n.;
night-lark, a person who goes about at night;
night-life, manifestations of life at night;
spec. the activities of, or urban entertainments open to, pleasure-seekers at night;
night-lifer, one who enjoys night-life;
† night-lying, bed-time;
† night-magistrate, a constable (B. E.
Dict. Cant. Crew,
a 1700);
night-office R.C. Ch., (until 1971) the part of the canonical office performed during the night hours;
night-old a., done, gathered, etc., on the previous day;
night op or
operation, a military operation at night;
night paddock Austral. and
N.Z., a field where stock,
esp. dairy cows, are kept overnight;
night parrot Austral., a nocturnal green and yellow ground parrot,
Geopsittacus occidentalis;
night rider, one who rides by night,
esp. on horse-back;
spec. in
U.S., one of various gangs of mounted men who commit acts of violence in order to intimidate or punish (see also
quots.); so
night-riding vbl. n. and
ppl. adj.;
† night-runner = nightwalker 1;
night-safe (see
quot. 1930);
night-scented stock, a small annual herb,
Matthiola tristis or
M. bicornis, of the family Cruciferæ, whose fragrant lilac flowers open at night;
night-side, (
a) the dark or bad aspect of a person or thing; (
b)
Shetland dial., in
phr. in the night-side, in the evening; (
c) (see
quot. 1927); (
d) the side of a planet that is facing away from the sun and is therefore in darkness;
night-sight, (
a)
= nyctalopia; (
b) a rifle-sight designed for shooting at night; (
c)
= night-vision 2 a;
night-singer, a bird that sings by night;
spec. the sedge-warbler;
† night-snap, a night-thief;
night spot, a night-club or similar place open to pleasure-seekers at night;
night-star, (
a) a star when shining by night; (
b) the evening-star;
night starvation, hunger at night; also
transf., lack of sexual gratification;
night-stick orig. U.S., a stick or truncheon carried by a policeman or the like,
esp. at night; also
attrib.;
night-stool (see
night-chair);
night-stop, a place where one stops for the night; the action of stopping at such a place; hence as
v. intr., to stop for the night;
night storage heater or
radiator, an electric heater in which heat can be accumulated at night and released during the day; so
night-stored ppl. adj.;
night-terror, a state of terror in which children sometimes awake during the night;
† night-trader, a prostitute;
† night-tub, a tub containing filth or night-soil;
night-watchman, (
a) a person employed to keep watch at night; (
b) in
Cricket, a batsman who goes in to bat just before the end of a day's play;
night-water, water which collects or is stored during the night;
† night-worm, (
a) a treacherous comrade; (
b) a prostitute; (
c) a glow-worm;
night-yard (see
quot.).
| 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. 1972 J. Poyer Chinese Agenda (1973) xi. 144 Just enough light for Gillon's night-adapted vision. |
| 1834 Pringle Afr. Sk. 280 There are several species of snakes which have come under my own observation, such as the nacht-slang (*night-adder). 1915 Chambers's Jrnl. July 437/2 The night-adder, as its name implies, is most in evidence after sundown. 1947 J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. xxxvi. 329 The Night Adder (Causus rhombeatus). Ibid., I have often seen my cats eating night adders which they have caught and killed. 1966 C. Sweeney Scurrying Bush vii. 98 The night adder was writhing in some discomfort. |
| 1667 Pepys Diary 13 June, They did go by the coach.., with about 1300l. in gold in their *night-bag. 1691 Lond. Gaz. No. 2666/4 A White Dimity Night-Bag..in which was Linnen, and other things. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 37 Bloudie-falls or *night blains. |
| 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 1084, 56 slides of *night-blood from 56 cases of elephantiasis. |
| 1832 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. IV. 402 Of a night (nocturnus); which appears during the night, and perishes before morning; as the flowers of the *night-blooming cereus. 1890 Harper's Mag. Mar. 613/1 My wife has a sweet face of her own, but one bearing the same relation to Miss Jasmine's as that existing between a sprig of mignonette and a night-blooming cereus. 1936 Times Lit. Suppl. 20 June 521/2 The flowering of the night-blooming cereus..is very lovingly described. 1971 E. L. Wardman Bermuda Jubilee Garden 199/2 Night-blooming cereus. A vine-like plant with triangular stems... Useful for clambering over a wall or rock face and even growing up a tree... Its very beautiful flowers open only after sunset and shrivel and die before morning. |
| 1891 Thorpe Dict. Applied Chem. II. 698 *Night⁓blue. 1908 Paris Fashions 18 Jan. 23/2 Costume of night-blue cloth. 1938 L. MacNeice I crossed Minch ii. viii. 106 The sky part of the landscape was night-blue. 1956 D. Gascoyne Night Thoughts 45 That profound night-blue abyss of starry vacancy. 1970 R. P. Warren Incarnations 17 On night-blue the tetter of cloud-scud. |
| 1843 S. C. Hall Ireland III. 276 There is also a more cumbrous vessel called a ‘*night-boat’. 1891 Kipling Light that Failed (1900) 153 They were going by the Dover night-boat. |
| 1784 Cowper Task iv. 568 Ere you sleep..drop the *nightbolt. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. Div. II. No. 5978 Mortise balance night bolt, and an improved night-latch. |
| 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. 1936 Economist 11 Jan. 85/2 The Fairey Company is an air-frame concern which is chiefly interested in the ‘Hendon’ night bomber. 1975 Listener 13 Mar. 335/1 Scheduled air services began on 25 August 1919..using ten- and 12-seated converted night bombers. |
| 1942 W. S. Churchill End of Beginning (1943) 118 These two great *night-bombing raids mark the introduction of a new phase in the British air offensive against Germany. |
| 1809 Sporting Mag. XXXIV. 56 Suffering his name to remain upon the debtor side of a *night book for years. |
| 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. Ibid. ii. ii. 203 A finger-post whose word the nightbound traveller hates to obey yet may not disbelieve. 1954 L. MacNeice Autumn Sequel 123 From my seat I see my night-bound double, slumped apart On a conveyor belt. |
| 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. |
| 1604 Shakes. Oth. ii. i. 316, I fear Cassio with my *Night-Cape too. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour (1865) II. 511/2 Who drive the *night-carts to and from..the cesspools. |
| 1860 Massey Hist. Eng. (1865) III. 381 The prisoners were charged with having provided arms, and instruments called *night-cats, for impeding the action of cavalry in the streets. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Ibid. 27, I didn't realise you were interested in *night-climbing. |
| 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. |
| 1862 Chambers's Encycl. III. 86 Stratus, fall or *night-cloud,..is a widely extended horizontal sheet. |
| 1882 J. D. McCabe New York 383 The entire force on duty at the station dashed into the street, armed with their long *night clubs. 1894 W. J. Locke At Gate of Samaria (1903) xxvii. 319 They went together to East End music-halls,..night clubs in the West End, where ladies are admitted free on a member's introduction. 1906 R. Machray Night Side of London i. 21 Finishing up, perhaps, at some night-club, or in some other den. 1915 Night club [see cabaret1 2 b]. 1928 F. B. Young My Brother Jonathan ii. viii. 355 A life of night-clubs and jazz-bands. 1938 Amer. Speech XIII. 194 Pleasure seekers at first went to night clubs; now, at least in the columns of the Broadway gossips, they simply night-club. 1965 New Statesman 9 Apr. 557/2 The sharp limitation in the circumstances in which businessmen can wine and dine and nightclub other businessmen. 1972 P. Driscoll Wilby Conspiracy (1973) xi. 138 That bitch of a nightclub singer. 1974 Listener 31 Jan. 131/1 The foreboding, the mounting menace, that we can trace through, say, the night-club songs of the Weimar republic. |
| 1952 B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz in Amer. (1958) xv. 177 From the general hubbub of night clubs and the particular cries and grunts of *night-clubbers..Bubber made his music. 1953 ‘S. Ransome’ Hear No Evil (1954) xv. 138 Bendley, a confirmed night-clubber. |
| 1936 R. Lehmann Weather in Streets i. v. 90 No, she never married... Does some little odd jobs and goes lunching and dining and *night-clubbing. 1941 Hermer & May Havana Mañana p. xii, There have been no books about Havana that show tourists how to get more than their money's worth out of stopping, eating, sightseeing and nightclubbing. 1947 Sun (Baltimore) 4 Aug. 1/2 Senator Pepper (D. Fla.) today tabbed as possibly ‘base judgment’ the 1943 night clubbing activities which Elliott Roosevelt will be asked to explain tomorrow to senators investigating Howard Hughes's wartime plane contracts. 1971 D. Bagley Freedom Trap viii. 181 Too much damned night-clubbing. |
| 1933 G. B. Shaw Political Madhouse in Amer. 48 You have become a wonderful *night clubby sort of nation. 1958 New Statesman 6 Sept. 314/2 A nightclubby girl ‘with a spurious American accent’ is a minor character in the recent Sober as a Judge by Henry Cecil. |
| 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xi, The *night-coach had a punctual character. 1959 Wall St. Jrnl. (Eastern ed.) 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. |
| 1924 Collier's 2 Feb. 3/1 He could stay up till 10 and hunt *night crawlers in the garden with a lantern. 1948 Esquire Mar. 88 Members of the Huck Finn school of fishing..have been looking for some way to enliven the almost impossibly sluggish night crawler. 1951 T. Capote Grass Harp (1952) ii. 64 Night-crawlers slithered away from its lurching light. 1971 B. Malamud Tenants 12 Lesser tried to scare off the nightcrawlers on his floor..by playing loud his hi-fi at night. 1973 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 5 Aug. 13/2 Sympathy and practical help poured in from every direction. Small donations of native worms—night crawlers—were the most practical help. |
| 1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 496/2 Day Cream... Massage Cream... *Night Cream. 1963 D. Gray Murder in Mind iii. 23 Except for a thick night cream, she took so little [care] of her face. |
| 1670–98 R. Lassels Voy. Italy I. 30 The *Night-dial shews by a lighted lamp set behind it, the hours of the night. |
| 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. |
| 1929 Times 31 Oct. 21/3 Those who have used this latest device under actual *night-driving conditions are unanimous in their praise. 1936 Discovery Oct. 302/1 The application of a sheet of..Polaroid..should remove one of the greatest inconveniences of night driving. 1962 L. S. Sasieni 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. There are many arguments as to the merits and demerits of tinted glasses for night driving. |
| 1626 Breton Fantastickes Sept., The Innes now begin to prouide for ghests, and the *night-eaters in the stable pinch the Trauailer in his bed. |
| 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 Engineering 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. 1962 J. H. & P. J. Reyner Radio Communication viii. 333 A phenomenon which considerably affects D.F. work is what is known as ‘night effect’. |
| 1921 Flight XIII. 664/1 Aircraft when within an area northward of the parallel of latitude 51° 10{p} 00{pp} N., and westward of the meridian of longitude 8° 30{p} 00{pp} W., 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. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XL. 161 These wave-lengths are subject to night error which affects the accuracy of bearings taken on medium wave direction finders. |
| 1948 Sat. Even. 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. 1956 I. Fleming Diamonds are Forever viii. 80 ‘The Jockey Club are going to change to photos of the night eyes [to help identify race horses].’ ‘What are night eyes?’ ‘They're those callouses on the inside of a horse's knees. The English call them ‘chestnuts’. Seems they're different on every horse. Like a man's fingerprints.’ 1957 ‘J. Wyndham’ Midwich Cuckoos ii. 21 The last customers to be persuaded out of The Scythe and Stone had lingered for a few minutes to get their night-eyes and gone their ways. 1963 M. A. Stoneridge Horse of your Own ii. 75 Inside each of the horse's legs you will notice a sort of horny excrescence called Chestnuts or Night Eyes, which are vestigial toes (remember, prehistoric horses had four or five of them). Night Eyes vary in form with no two alike; they are as individual as human fingerprints and recorded as part of the identification system for thoroughbred race horses and registered trotters. |
| 1603 B. Jonson Sejanus iv. v, I dare tell you..That our *night-eyed Tiberius doth not see His minion's drifts. |
| 1620 Middleton World Tost at Tennis C 2 'Tis a poor living... Sol. 'Tis somewhat better then the *night-farmer yet. 1647 Lilly Chr. Astrol. cxlix. 633 He makes Night-farmers, Slaughter-men, sweepers of channels, &c. |
| 1941 Aeronautics Jan. 41/3 The effective range of fire of *night fighter aircraft will have to be increased. 1941 Times (Weekly ed.) 5 Feb. 15 The defence by night-fighter aeroplanes was the most difficult task of anti-aircraft defences. 1942 Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 62 That..is the gist, or guts, of the night-fighter pilot's training. Ibid. 85 Particularly important this for night-fighters. 1947 J. Mulgan Report on Experience vi. 80 Meeting sometimes night-fighters or flak coming back over the coast defences. |
| 1933 Meccano Mag. Feb. 109/1 *Night fighting consists chiefly of individual attacks at close range. 1947 Crowther & Whiddington Science at War 60 The radar air interception equipments, used in the early night-fighting battles. |
| 1789 W. Aiton Hortus Kewensis II. 152 Great *Night-flowering Cereus. Nat[ive] of Jamaica and Vera Cruz. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny xx. xx. II. 70 Coriander..cureth the *night-foes or chilblanes. |
| 1853 C. R. Read What I heard, saw, & did at Austral. Gold Fields 150 (Morris), 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. |
| 1889 Cent. Dict., *Night-fossicking. |
| 1513 Douglas æneis xii. Prol. 1 Dyonea, *nycht hyrd, and wach of day. 1884 R. Aldridge Life on Ranch 62 When on night-herd the men usually keep singing all the time as they ride round. 1903 A. Adams Log of Cowboy ii. 11 Forrest night herded them using five guards. Ibid. vii. 97 We night herded as usual. 1955 R. P. Hobson Nothing too Good for Cowboy viii. 71 Simrose and Rob came in from their night-herd shift. 1962 W. Stegner Wolf Willow iii. ii. 163 Everything he said or played or sang during his hours on the night herd was meant seriously. 1963 R. D. Symons Many Trails 37 We certainly did not propose to night herd. |
| 1873 J. H. Beadle Undevel. West v. 98 The ‘*night-herder’ Billy Keyes, and two other drivers..were Gentiles. 1891 C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 188 The night herders renewed it [the fire] from time to time. |
| 1888 Chambers's Jrnl. Apr. 221/1 This is called *night-herding. 1890 L. D'Oyle Notches 55 That night-herding was becoming unpleasant work. 1908 Sat. Even. Post 24 Oct. 10/1 A long-eared, reddish, sleepy-eyed..mule frequently used in night-herding. 1933 J. V. Allen Cowboy Lore iv. 71 David went from night-herding to using a sling. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny xix. iv. 12 These slie theeves and *night-hookers..committed such fellonious outrages. |
| 1908 Sat. Even. Post 4 July 22/3 They made Blackie a *night horse, for his sure-footedness was remarkable. 1925 J. Farnol Loring Mystery xlii. 283 ‘Talking o' bed,’ quoth Mr. Shrig.., ‘do you ever dream ― d'ye ever have the night-'orse?’ 1929 Amer. Speech V. 67 Usually the ‘kept horses’ or ‘herding horses’ are also ‘night horses’, those used for ‘night herding’. 1937 Dialect Notes VI. 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. 1967 Coast to Coast 1965–66 195 The smell of the night-horse nearby and the cattle a little beyond will tie you to reality. |
| 1895 G. Meredith Amaz. Marriage I. xxiii. 258 *Night-larks of different classes, both sexes. |
| 1852 H. Melville Pierre xvi. i. 322 All the garish *night-life of a vast thoroughfare, crowded and wedged by day, and even now, at this late hour, brilliant with occasional illuminations. 1913 H. L. Mencken Let. 17 Aug. (1961) 32 The title ‘Night Life in Vienna’..has the air of a lure held out to the Puritanical and dirty-minded. 1927 G. Ade et al. Let. 4 Mar. (1973) 119 Our fellow-passengers..were ashore last night, dancing and hunting up a second-rate African imitation of night life in Paris. 1929 D. L. Moore Pandora's Letter Box iii. 53 ‘Night life’—to use the popular expression for habitual nocturnal dancing and drinking. 1972 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 25 Mar. 68/3 The Kabarett, with its sharp political satire, was part of Berlin night life. |
| 1967 W. Soyinka Kongi's Harvest 13 A few *night-lifers pick up their drinks and go in. |
| 1456 Paston Lett. I. 369 They avaunted of it when he of Lynne came by him at *nyȝt lyeng. |
| 1767 A. B. Short Acct. Life Mary of Holy Cross 84 In the Time of St. Peter Damian, only the Clergy rose to the *Night Office. 1909 M. B. Saunders Litany Lane i. iii. 34 A small chapel in which the brothers held their short night-office. 1957 Oxf. Dict. Chr. Church 960/1 Night office, another name for Mattins, the liturgical office prescribed for the night. |
| c 1000 Laws of Ine 73 in Thorpe Laws I. 148 Ȝif hit biþ *niht-eald þiefþ. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 296 Laborers..Deyne not to dyne a day niht olde wortes. |
| 1916 W. Owen Let. 6 Apr. (1967) 388 We had ‘*Night Ops.’ yesterday till 9.30! |
| Ibid. 10 Apr. 390 We had *Night Operations again. |
| 1930 Bulletin (Sydney) 29 Jan. 62/4 He strode up to the big, heavily-capped yards in the corner 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 IX. 54 The apparently Australian innovation lies..in the adoption of the refined terminology of the home paddock and the night paddock. |
| 1917 Chambers's Jrnl. Feb. 89/1 Even on moonlight nights I could never catch a glimpse of the flying *night-parrots. 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. 1965 Austral. Encycl. VII. 27/2 A second remarkable parrot of the ground is one known as the night parrot, sole member of the genus Geopsittacus, which is, or used to be, distributed widely throughout the drier parts of the inland region. It is closely associated with the spiny spinifex or porcupine-grass, hiding in the thick clusters by day, feeding on their seeds at night. |
| 1877 J. M. Wells Chisolm Massacre x. 118 They said that *night-riders had shot into the houses of the colored people. 1879 Congress. Rec. 20 May 1480/1 There was much said..of kuklux, white leagues, and night-riders... There are..no night-riders in the State of Louisiana. 1882 F. W. P. Jago Anc. Lang. & Dial..Cornwall 226 Night-riders, Piskey (Fairy) people who have been riding Tom (the name of a horse) again. 1906 Kipling Puck of Pook's Hill 10 Leprechauns, night-riders, pixies, nixies. 1907 Lit. Digest 28 Dec. 976 The first appearance of the night riders was in November, 1906, when they destroyed some tobacco-barns and small factories in Todd County. 1911 J. Masefield Jim Davis ii. 12 They were the night-riders or smugglers. 1936 J. G. Miller Black Patch War 18 The Night Rider burnt his warehouse and his purchase with it. 1948 E. N. Dick Dixie Frontier 94 Patrols, called patterols by the slaves, were organized by the whites, and these night riders endeavored to enforce the regulations. 1970 New Yorker 12 Dec. 166/3 Night riders who fire shotgun blasts at the home of an anti-war leader..are routine. 1973 J. Cleary Ransom viii. 184 As a plainclothesman he had travelled on late trains out of Sydney to the suburbs, riding shotgun as it were against hooligans... Night riders, he guessed, were the same everywhere. |
| 1875 Chicago Tribune 6 Nov. 3/6 To-night..there is to be a ‘*night riding’ and shooting.. to arouse a degree of uneasiness in the darky's mind and cause him..not to go to the election. 1909 Chambers's Jrnl. Feb. 104/1 Night riding began as soon as the farmers' associations were organised. 1952 C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil's Aeneid x. 215 The gentle Moon's Night-riding horses were pacing halfway across the heavens. |
| 14.. Vergilius in Thoms E. Eng. Prose Rom. (1858) II. 40 How the *nyght ronners, and yll doers myght be ryd out of the stretes. |
| 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. 1959 Times 18 Feb. 11/5 Night safes don't cash cheques. 1975 ‘M. Yorke’ Small Hours iii. 31 Ray had tracked down one of the night-safe depositors. |
| [1824 H. Phillips Flora Historica I. 336 We have no plant that exhales so delightful a fragrance in the night as the..Night-smelling Rocket, or Night Odorous Stock.] 1849 *Night-scented stock [see night-scented, sense 12 c]. 1870 W. Robinson Wild Garden ii. 54 Night-scented Stock... May be established on the sunny sides of old ruins and walls. 1914 E. A. Bowles My Garden in Summer xiv. 259 The old Night-scented Stock of one's great-grandmother, is another half-hardy indispensable. 1972 Country Life 23 Mar. 690/1 Seeds of small annuals such as night-scented stock..I broadcast by scattering them over the ground. |
| 1848 Mrs. Crowe (title) The *Night Side of Nature. 1855 G. Brimley Ess., Tennyson 99 The night-side of the soul. 1898 Shetland News 10 Dec., If Willie id been some boys, diel wird he'd sung i' da nicht side. 1900 Ibid. 26 May, Dis kirn is no laek ta brak i' da night side. 1927 Amer. Speech II. 242/2 On papers having both morning and afternoon editions one also hears references to the two divisions of the staff as the ‘day side’ and the ‘night side’. 1951 A. C. Clarke Sands of Mars viii. 94 It was a live programme, beamed to Mars from somewhere on the night-side of Earth. 1970 Nature 7 Mar. 925/1 On the nightside of Venus at altitudes between 750 km and 1,450 km the presence of a light ion was inferred. 1973 G. Greene Honorary Consul v. iii. 285 Suppose the night-side of God swallows up the day-side altogether? Suppose it is the good side which withers away? 1974 Nature 4 Jan. 24/1 The orbit is near-polar with the north-going passes on the nightside at about 2230 LT, and the south-going passes on the dayside at about 1030 LT. |
| 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) III. 144 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. 1973 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Starry Bird ii. 29 At night the full lights in the cupola never go on. They would spoil the plate and ruin your night sight. |
| 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xxiv. (1818) II. 401 The Fulgoræ appear to be *night-singers. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVI. 230/1 The Nightingale, or night singer, is a migratory bird. 1885 Swainson Prov. Names Birds 28 Sedge Warbler,..night singer (Ireland). |
| 1620 Fletcher Chances ii. i, These fellows Were *night-snaps. |
| 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. 1947 Sun (Baltimore) 4 Aug. 1/2 He was the guest of John Meyer, publicity man, in a costly round of New York night spots. 1959 F. Usher Death in Error i. 18 They went to a night spot..where they drank champagne. 1973 Express (Trinidad & Tobago) 26 June 4/6 A flash fire..swept through a New Orleans night spot. |
| 1811 Shelley St. Irvyne iii. vi, Till the *night-stars shone through the cloudless air. 1823 J. Baillie Poems 48 Where sober evening's primrose pale, To greet the nightstar, blows. 1838 Eliza Cook Away from the revel iv, It is twilight; the night-star is up. |
| 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 Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 3) Add. 1119/1 Night starvation, sexual deprivation, lack of sexual intimacy. 1970 Southerly XXX. 286 David's head is in the right place—night starvation—Horlicks—Venus de Milo. 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. 1974 Harpers & Queen Sept. 135/1 My bread rolls she secretes..against night starvation. |
| 1887 W. E. S. Fales Brooklyn's Guardians ii. 30 In the wealthier thoroughfares the brawls were of so frequent occurrence that the sight of two watchmen..pounding each other with their *night-sticks, occasioned no comment. 1893 S. Crane Maggie xi. 102 The officer made a terrific advance, club in hand. One comprehensive sweep of the long night stick threw the ally to the floor. 1904 ‘No. 1500’ Life in Sing Sing i. 10 Big clubs, heavier and more formidable than a policeman's night stick. 1905 N.Y. Times 15 July, San Juan Hill and the Gut were under nightstick law until early this morning. 1932 New Yorker 4 June 23 There's a lot of law at the end of a nightstick. 1963 T. & P. Morris Pentonville x. 209 Hospital officers do not carry night sticks. 1973 J. Wambaugh Blue Knight i. 18 A beat cop has to be big..or..somebody'd take the night-stick off him and shove it up his ass. 1975 Daily Tel. 30 June 1/5 Police chased the demonstrators down the streets [of Delhi], stopping occasionally to swing at anyone in their way with heavy wooden nightsticks. |
| 1854 Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 246 Each cell..contains a gas-burner and a *night-stool. |
| 1791 J. Byng Diary 3 July in Torrington Diaries (1935) II. 360 Dunnington, a small market-town, where I dined..in a quiet house, but not a *night-stop. 1951 ‘N. Shute’ Round the Bend 232 Next day took us to Karachi, where we night-stopped before going on to Bahrein. 1959 New Statesman 8 Aug. 151/1 When coming back from India took five days, with agreeable night-stops along the way, it was quite pleasant. 1972 C. Kearey Last Plane from Uli ii. 34 ‘Are you night-stopping, sir?’ the Immigration Chief asked curiously. ‘No, I'm taking off for Lagos as soon as the refuelling's finished.’ 1975 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 4 Apr. 16/1 Had the supervisors declared the plane unserviceable, another 747..due to night-stop in London would have been allocated to take her place. |
| 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. 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. 1973 Guardian 23 May 9/6 Night storage heaters are metal boxes filled with bricks wired for electric heating. |
| 1962 Daily Tel. 20 Aug. 16/2 (heading) *Night-stored heat from electricity. |
| 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 717 Suffocative ‘*night-terrors’ often occur. 1899 Ibid. VIII. 218 Many excellent monographs on night terrors have appeared. |
| 1629 Massinger Picture i. ii, All kinds of females, from the *night-trader I' the street..To the great lady in her cabinet. |
| a 1616 B. Jonson Epigr., On Fam. Voy. 64 As at the muster Of all your *night-tubs, when the carts do cluster. |
| 1863 A. D. Whitney Faith Gartney's Girlhood xxviii. 261 Michael Garvin, the *night-watchman,..had left. 1874 W. P. Mackay Grace & Truth iv, He is engaged to be a night-watchman. 1926 J. Masefield Odtaa xiii. 214 There must be at least a caretaker or night-watchman. 1949 Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 3) Add. 1119/1 Night-watchman, a (usually a second-rate) batsman sent in to ‘hold up an end’ until the close of play. 1971 Sunday Times 2 May 24 The fifth [ball] was caught by Turner off the nightwatchman Wasim Bari's glove and shoulder. |
| 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 504 A drain half a mile long, and a reservoir for the *night-water. 1874 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 319 On the supposition that..the night-water was saved. |
| 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas i. xix. (1554) 36 Suffre no *night worm within your counsell crepe. 1605 Daniel Queen's Arcadia i. iii, Bed-Brokers, Night-Worms and Impressitors. 1774 Mason Poems 222 (Jod.), Like a nest of night-worms they did glitter, Sprinkling the plain with brightness. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 216 The *night-yards, or the places where the contents of the cess-pools are deposited. |
Add:
[14.] night-terror: for ‘children’ read:
esp. children;
usu. in
pl.| 1892 J. Royce Spirit Mod. Philos. 241 *Night-terrors, of a known pathological type. 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. |
▪ II. night, v. (
naɪt)
Forms: 4–6
nyghte, (4
nyhte, 5
nyȝte, 6
nyghtt-), 5–6
Sc. nycht,
nicht, (7
nich); 7–
night.
[f. the n. Cf. OHG. nahtên (G. nachten, and dial. nȧchten), ON. nátta (Norw. and MSw. natta, Da. natte).] 1. intr. To spend or pass the night; to remain or lodge for the night. Now
rare.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 7730 He nyghtede yn a wasteyne, Þere he sagh no stede certeyne. 1435 Misyn Fire of Love 46 For criste, to vs to pray, ensaumpyl gaf qwhen in prayer allon in þe hyll [he] nyghtyd. 1502 in Antiq. Rep. (1808) II. 256 Upon the morowe he nyghted at his castell of Wyndsore. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vii. 335 Leauing these Mountaynes..and passing the Townes of Antibo and Cana, to night at Furges. a 1670 Spalding Troub. Chas. I (1850) II. 6 Thay nichit for thair awin pay in the oldtoun. 1786 A. Gib Sacr. Contempl. i. v. i. 138 The words translated abideth not, strictly mean nighteth not, passeth not a night. 1818 Hogg Tales, Brownie of Bodsbeck (1866) 56 You and I shall never night thegither again in the same house. 1886 R. F. Burton Arab. Nts. (abr. ed.) I. 88 Would Heaven we had never entered this house, but had rather nighted on the mounds and heaps outside the city! |
| fig. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xlvii. (Add. MS.) 205 He entrede..the wombe of the blissede Virgyne, and there he nyghted from the tyme of his conception vnto his birthe. |
† b. To cease work for the night.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1529 Burgh 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. |
† 2. impers. To turn to night; to grow dark. Also with
dat. of person.
Obs.| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 515 Into tyme that it gan to nyghte, They speken of Cryseyde. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 293 A while er it began to nyhte, A povere man..Cam forth walkende. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxvi. 3437 It nychtyd fast: and thai Thowcht till abyd thare to the day. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 40 Euill lykand was the Kyng, it nichtit him sa lait. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems v. 15 Att ane ailhous neir [hevin], it nyghttit thaim thare. |
† b. Of the night: To come down, to fall.
Obs.—1| 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 153 Nero in ill tyme hym myght not Suffice the lordshupp of Solerne ther as the day dawyth, nethyr of galerne the baillie, ther as the nyght nyghtyth. |
† 3. In
pass. To be overtaken by night, to be benighted.
Obs.| c 1440 Bone Flor. 1437 They were nyghtyd in a wode thyck. 1470–85 Malory Arthur iv. xxv. 153 They cam in to a depe forest, and by fortune they were nyȝted. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 133 b, Yf it fortune them to be nyghted, and the gates of the cite where they wold rest shutte. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 101 Theire desire is to buy soone, that they may be goinge betimes, for feare of beinge nighted. |