daylight saving

American  

Or daylight savings

noun

1. the practice of advancing standard time by one hour in the spring of each year and of setting it back by one hour in the fall in order to gain an extra period of daylight during the early evening.

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Etymology

Origin of daylight saving

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

In 2018, California voters passed Proposition 7, allowing the state to adopt permanent daylight saving time if federal law permits.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 7, 2026

Current federal law does not permit making daylight saving permanent, but it does allow states to opt into permanent standard time — which only Arizona and Hawaii have done.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 7, 2026

And yet I see little hope of resolution, largely because the broader debate over daylight saving time is weirdly toxic and confused.

From Slate • Oct. 31, 2025

When do the clocks change in the UK and why do we follow daylight saving time?

From BBC • Oct. 24, 2025

There was once a state legislator in Wisconsin who objected to the introduction of daylight saving time despite all the good arguments for it.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos