eve
noun
the evening or the day before a holiday, church festival, or any date or event.
eve
1 American
[eev]
/ iv /
noun
-
eves
plural
-
(sometimes initial capital letter) the evening or the day before a holiday, church festival, or any date or event.
Christmas Eve; the eve of an execution.
-
the period preceding or leading up to any event, crisis, etc..
on the eve of the American Revolution.
-
the evening.
Eve
2
American
[eev]
/ iv /
noun
-
(in the Bible) the name of the first woman: wife of Adam and progenitor of the human race.
-
a female given name: from a Hebrew word meaning “life.”
eve
1
British
/ iːv /
noun
-
-
the evening or day before some special event or festival
-
( capital when part of a name )
New Year's Eve
-
-
the period immediately before an event
on the eve of civil war
-
an archaic word for evening
Eve
2
British
/ iːv /
noun
Eve
Cultural
eve
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of eve
1200–50; Middle English; variant of even 2
Explanation
An eve is the day — or night — just before some event. You might call the day before your birthday your "birthday eve." Some holidays are well-known for having the proceeding days distinguished as eves: many of us celebrate New Year's Eve, others gather for meals on Christmas Eve or Passover Eve, and the word "Halloween" comes from "All Hallow's Eve." The word eve is sometimes also a shortened form of evening, the last part of the day: "It stays light so late on a summer's eve."
Vocabulary lists containing eve
Scrabble: Palindrome Words
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3-letter words, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On the eve of the first Rough Sleeping Summit at Downing Street on Monday, No 10 has indicated a further £432m will be added to the initiative in Wednesday's Budget.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
He campaigned on the eve of polls in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, which has been a must-win state for any presidential hopeful since the 1980s.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Cremo, who has overseen "Bardo" since it was commissioned eight years ago, spoke with AFP from Warsaw on the eve of the premiere of "Mothers of Kherson," which the Met commissioned in 2023.
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026
On the eve of D-Day, a soldier confided to the journalist A.J.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Sometimes out of the corner of an eve we could see a prisoner raise his fist in the ANC salute.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
There had been hope Ratcliffe, a boyhood United fan, would change that when he struck a deal with the Glazers to become a minority shareholder on Christmas Eve 2023.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
More recently, The Wall Street Journal reported that Paxton spent New Year's Eve in Dubai with two American businessmen indicted over alleged healthcare fraud.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
Some hashtags just don't appear on Instagram, said Athena Lamnisos, CEO of gynaecological cancer charity Eve Appeal.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
The first song is coming out on New Year’s Eve.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
“I think she should. It’s Christmas Eve dinner,” Oliver reminded her, perhaps unwisely.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
Up All Night‘s” epilogue considers the post-pandemic remnants of the glamorous, somewhat gluttonous eves of yore and the effects that smartphones, social media and streaming have had on the art of going out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Norway on Tuesday introduced a 10-person limit for gatherings at private homes, although the number will be increased to 20 on Christmas and New Year’s eves.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 9, 2021
“Umbrellas were useless,” reported The Times, “the overflow from eves, awning and other projections were miniature Niagaras.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2017
Games occur in practice gyms, or intramural gyms, or gym-gyms, or in the real thing on game eves.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 29, 2017
His face puckered, the tears leapt from his eves, his mouth opened till they could see a square black hole.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
