daylight

American  

[dey-lahyt] / ˈdeɪˌlaɪt /

noun

1. the light of day.

   At the end of the tunnel they could see daylight.

2. public knowledge or awareness; openness.

   The newspaper article brought the scandal out into the daylight.

3. the period of day; daytime.

4. daybreak; dawn.

5. a clear space or gap, especially between two people or things that should be close together, as between the knees of a horseback rider and a saddle.

6. disagreement or mental distance between two people.

   There's very little daylight between the two senators' stances on the issue.

7. Informal. daylights, mental soundness, consciousness, or wits: I'd like to beat/knock the daylights out of him!

   The noise scared the daylights out of us.

   I'd like to beat/knock the daylights out of him!

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adjective

1. Photography. of, relating to, or being film made for exposure by the natural light of day.

verb (used with object)

daylighted, daylit, daylighting

1. to suffuse (an interior space) with artificial light or with daylight filtered through translucent materials, as roofing panels.

idioms

1. see daylight, to progress to a point where completion of a difficult task seems possible or probable.

daylight British  

/ ˈdeɪˌlaɪt /

noun

1. 1. light from the sun

   2. ( as modifier )

      daylight film

2. the period when it is light; daytime

3. daybreak

4. 1. to understand something previously obscure

   2. to realize that the end of a difficult task is approaching

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daylight More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing daylight

• beat the living daylights out of
• begin to see daylight
• in broad daylight
• let daylight through
• scare out of one's wits (the living daylights out of)

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Other Word Forms

• predaylight noun

Etymology

Origin of daylight

A Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; day , light ¹

Explanation

The period of each day when the sun is shining is daylight. If you work as a lifeguard at the town pool, your job takes place during daylight. You can use daylight and daytime interchangeably, although daylight also means "daytime light" or "the light of the sun." If you lose electricity in your house for a few days, you might have to stick to reading when there's daylight. Many public parks are only open during daylight hours. If someone scares the living daylights out of you, they terrify you — this colloquial phrase comes from an old sense of the eyes being referred to as daylights.

Example Sentences

As industrialization boomed across the world, time became standardized and systematized to meet the deadlines of false daylight.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

And after this week, there is a growing possibility it could happen in full daylight with a roll call vote in the Senate.

From Salon • Apr. 17, 2026

For instance, if you do a new museum, the conservators say art can be exposed to less daylight.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

General Dan Caine -- the top US military officer, who spoke alongside Trump -- said these forces "audaciously penetrated enemy territory in broad daylight to find, fix and recover" the pilot.

From Barron's • Apr. 6, 2026

Saving precious daylight hours could mean the difference between harvesting the food before the first frost or not, and having enough nourishment for the winter or not.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

Related Words

• dawn
• daytime
• sunlight
• sunshine