daylight

[ dey-lahyt ]

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. daylights, Informal. 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!

adjective

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

verb (used with object)

, day·light·ed or day·lit, day·light·ing.

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

daylight

/ ˈdeɪˌlaɪt /

noun

1. 1. light from the sun
   2. ( as modifier )

      daylight film

2. the period when it is light; daytime
3. daybreak
4. see daylight
   see daylight
   1. to understand something previously obscure
   2. to realize that the end of a difficult task is approaching

Other Words From

• pre·daylight noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of daylight¹

A Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; day none, light ¹none

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

More idioms and phrases containing daylight

In addition to the idiom beginning with daylight , also see 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) .

Example Sentences

As a result, little daylight existed between fame as a young, attractive woman with any hint of a sex life and what we now know as public shaming.

From Washington Post

In daylight, Brookesia chameleons scour the forest floor, snatching up mites and other small invertebrates, Glaw’s team suspects.

From Science News

If daylight permits, you can make forays to try to find a vantage, but mark a trail for your return.

From Popular-Science

How to use a happy lampLight therapy for SAD is most effective when you start using the lamp in the early fall and continue on until spring, when enough ambient daylight is restored and symptoms subside.

From Popular-Science

It’s got three light settings—warm light, daylight, and cool light—with 10 brightness levels in each setting.

From Popular-Science

Not 90 seconds later, Brown lay shot to death in broad daylight in the middle of a Missouri street.

From The Daily Beast

“It was a magical feeling, leaving daylight to sneak into a theater,” he says wistfully.

From The Daily Beast

Two gunmen pulled off a daylight heist in the Diamond District and evaded every single cop.

From The Daily Beast

There are rock-survivor-y types in black, with sunglasses, whose demeanor speaks of lost nights and rare contact with daylight.

From The Daily Beast

Leonard was running, but not getting any closer to daylight.

From The Daily Beast

When I had finished, the other guests had all gone out, but daylight was coming in, and I began to feel more at home.

From Project Gutenberg

We were about nine hours of fair daylight traversing 160 miles of level or descending grade, with a light passenger train.

From Project Gutenberg

They're up every mornin' uv thar lives long afore daylight, a feedin' their stock, an' gittin' ready fur the day's work.

From Project Gutenberg

It was broad daylight still, but gloomy there: the window had the pleasure of reposing under the leads, and was gloomy at noon.

From Project Gutenberg

Daylight failed and night came on before our task was finished, several carriages remaining unexamined.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dawn
• daytime
• sunlight
• sunshine