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definitions

daylight

[dey-lahyt]
||

noun

adjective

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.

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

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RELATED WORDS

dawn, sunshine, daytime, sunlight, light, aurora, daybreak, day, sunrise

Nearby words

  1. dayflower,
  2. dayfly,
  3. daygirl,
  4. dayglow,
  5. dayhop,
  6. daylight lamp,
  7. daylight robbery,
  8. daylight saving,
  9. daylight saving time,
  10. daylight-saving time

Idioms

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

Origin of daylight

Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at day, light1
Related formspre·day·light, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for daylights

British Dictionary definitions for daylights

daylights

pl n

consciousness or wits (esp in the phrases scare, knock, or beat the (living) daylights out of someone)

daylight

noun

  1. light from the sun
  2. (as modifier)daylight film
the period when it is light; daytime
daybreak
see daylight
  1. to understand something previously obscure
  2. to realize that the end of a difficult task is approaching
See also daylights
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for daylights

daylight

n.

c.1300 (as two words from mid-12c., daies liht), from day + light (n.); its figurative sense of "clearly visible open space between two things" (1820) has been used in references to boats in a race, U.S. football running backs avoiding opposing tackles, a rider and a saddle, and the rim of a glass and the surface of the liquor. The (living) daylights that you beat out of someone were originally slang for "the eyes" (1752), extended figuratively to the vital senses.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with daylights

daylight

In addition to the idiom beginning with daylight

  • daylight robbery

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)
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.