daylight

[dey-lahyt]

noun

the light of day: At the end of the tunnel they could see daylight.

public knowledge or awareness; openness: The newspaper article brought the scandal out into the daylight.

the period of day; daytime.

daybreak; dawn.

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.

disagreement or mental distance between two people: There's very little daylight between the two senators' stances on the issue.

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

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.

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

Related Words for daylights

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

Examples from the Web for daylights

Contemporary Examples of daylights

Then they beat the living daylights out of the Kiwis, 98-71.
Cartoon Streetfights, Giant Mutant Spider Dogs, and More Viral Videos
Jack Holmes
September 7, 2014
The gown was worn by Diana on several occasions, including to the premiere of James Bond film The Living Daylights.
'Fairytale' Diana Dress Makes $140,000 At Auction
Tom Sykes
December 4, 2013
They do so by investing in productivity, by outsourcing, and by beating the leaving daylights out of labor.
The SEC Can’t Make CEOs Care About Their Employees
Daniel Gross
September 19, 2013
One of the major—and frustrating—features of this recovery has been that capital is beating the living daylights out of labor.
Jobless Rate Falls to Four-Year Low in April
Daniel Gross
May 3, 2013
He also admitted that he “polled the living daylights out of it.”
Joe Manchin's Model for Red-State Democrats
Michael Tomasky
April 23, 2013

Historical Examples of daylights

It scared the daylights out of me, more so because I was flat on my back.
Vigorish
Gordon Randall Garrett
Didn't he throw a gun on yez once an' scare the daylights out of yez?
The U.P. Trail
Zane Grey
If the lady says such another word to me, d—n me, I will darken her daylights.
Amelia
Henry Fielding
Let's have a representative who can see what he is about—none of your goold daylights!
Quodlibet
John P. Kennedy
Roy isn't so weak that he can't kid the daylights out of you all the way home.
Phantom of the Forest
Lee Francis

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

light from the sun
(as modifier)daylight film

the period when it is light; daytime

daybreak

see daylight

to understand something previously obscure
to realize that the end of a difficult task is approaching

daylight

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.

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)