daylight

[ dey-lahyt ]

/ ˈdeɪˌlaɪt /

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.

Nearby words

dayflower, dayfly, daygirl, dayglow, dayhop, daylight, daylight lamp, daylight robbery, daylight saving, daylight saving time, 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

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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

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|DAILY BEAST
But as I was saying, our baseball team has to give theirs a handicap, but their football team can beat the daylights out of ours.
Uller Uprising|Henry Beam Piper, John D. Clark and John F. Carr
I was goin' t' whale th' daylights out o' ye; but ye're somethin' av a man.
The Million Dollar Mystery|Harold MacGrath
Thus encouraged, Mr. Appel declared that he wished he would not fry the ham to chips and boil the "daylights" out of the coffee.
The Dude Wrangler|Caroline Lockhart
Why, Ma's mother used to warm her ears, and shake the daylights out of her, but it didn't do any good.
The Grocery Man And Peck's Bad Boy|George W. Peck
If you get arrogant again, I will beat the living daylights out of you!
Operation: Outer Space|William Fitzgerald Jenkins

British Dictionary definitions for daylights (1 of 2)

daylights

/ (ˈdeɪˌlaɪts) /

pl n

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

British Dictionary definitions for daylights (2 of 2)

daylight

/ (ˈdeɪˌlaɪt) /

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

Word Origin and History for daylights

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)

daylight

noun

adjective

verb (used with object), day·light·ed or day·lit, day·light·ing.

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of daylight

Examples from the Web for daylights

British Dictionary definitions for daylights (1 of 2)

daylights

pl n

British Dictionary definitions for daylights (2 of 2)

daylight

noun

Word Origin and History for daylights

daylight

Idioms and Phrases with daylights

daylight