night

at all hours (of the day and night)

at any time of the day or night. They keep calling me on the phone at all hours to ask questions I've already answered.

See also: all, hour

at all hours (of the night)

very late at night. How do you expect me to sleep when you're playing loud music at all hours?

See also: all, hour

be like ships that pass in the night

if two people are like ships that pass in the night, they meet once or twice by chance for a short time and then do not see each other again. I only met him once or twice - we were like ships that pass in the night - but I've never met anyone else like him.

See also: like, pass, ship, that

fly-by-night

a fly-by-night person or organization cannot be trusted because they have not been established long, and could leave or close at any time. They've opened one of those cheap and nasty fly-by-night stores on the High Street. (always before noun) I'm serious about representing my constituents. I'm not a fly-by-night politician.

a hen night/party (British & Australian)

a party for women only, especially one that is organized for a woman who is soon going to get married. Barbara's having her hen night a week before the wedding.

See also: hen, party

in the dead of night/winter

in the middle of the night or in the middle of winter. The fire broke out in the dead of night.

See also: dead, winter

make a [day/night/weekend etc.] of it

to spend a whole day, night, weekend, etc. somewhere, instead of only a short time, so that you can enjoy it more. We decided to go on to a club after the show and really make a night of it.

See also: day, weekend

the morning after (the night before) (informal)

the morning after a party, when you feel ill because you were drunk. Frank's got a bad case of the morning after.

See also: after, morning

morning, noon, and night

if you do something morning, noon, and night, you do it most of the time. They've been working morning, noon, and night to finish the decorating before the baby's born.

a night (out) on the razzle (informal, old-fashioned)

be/go (out) on the razzle - to enjoy yourself by doing things like going to parties or dances. We've had a night on the razzle, so I've got a bit of a hangover.

a night (out) on the tiles (informal)

be/go out on the tiles - to enjoy yourself by going to things like parties or dances. Do you fancy going out to a club? It's ages since we had a night on the tiles.

See also: tile

a night (out) on the town

be/go out on the town - to go out and enjoy yourself at bars, restaurants etc. in the evening. At the end of the conference the girls had a night on the town.

See also: town

a night owl

someone who often goes to bed late because they prefer to do things at night. A night owl from his youth, he is rarely in bed before 4 o'clock.

a one-night stand

1. a sexual relationship which only lasts for one night, or a person who you have had this type of relationship with. I'd rather have a long-term relationship than a series of one-night stands. It's you I love, Karen - Debbie was just a one-night stand.

2. a performance which happens only once in a particular place. We're doing a one-night stand in Durham on Monday followed by a couple of nights in Newcastle.

See also: stand

a stag night/party

a party for a man who is going to get married, to which only his male friends are invited. On Keith's stag night, his friends left him tied to a lamp-post in Trafalgar Square, wearing only his underpants.

See also: party, stag

till all hours (of the night)

until very late at night. They sit up till all hours of the night drinking beer and playing cards.

See also: all, hour, till

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day and night

all the time. It takes a while to get used to hearing traffic noise day and night.

See also: day

in the dead of night

during the middle of the night. The fire broke out in the dead of night.

See also: dead

in the dead of the night

dead set against something

See also: dead

night after night

for several nights without interruption. The howling of the neighbors' dogs kept him awake night after night.

See also: after

night and day

all the time. We worked night and day to finish the job in a month.

See also: day