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Synonyms

eve

1 American  
[eev] / iv /

noun

  1. (sometimes initial capital letter) the evening or the day before a holiday, church festival, or any date or event.

    Christmas Eve; the eve of an execution.

  2. the period preceding or leading up to any event, crisis, etc..

    on the eve of the American Revolution.

  3. the evening.

Eve 2 American  
[eev] / iv /

noun

  1. (in the Bible) the name of the first woman: wife of Adam and progenitor of the human race.

  2. a female given name: from a Hebrew word meaning “life.”

eve 1 British  
/ iːv /

noun

    1. the evening or day before some special event or festival

    2. ( capital when part of a name )

      New Year's Eve

  2. the period immediately before an event

    on the eve of civil war

  3. an archaic word for evening

"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
Eve 2 British  
/ iːv /

noun

  1. Old Testament the first woman; mother of the human race, fashioned by God from the rib of Adam (Genesis 2:18-25)

"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
Eve Cultural  

  1. In the Book of Genesis, the first woman. (See Adam and Eve and Creation.)

eve Idioms  

  1. see on the eve of.

Etymology

Origin of eve

1200–50; Middle English; variant of even 2

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

These days, over 60% of Italians have an unfavorable view of the U.S., in line with other Western European countries, according to a YouGov survey released on the eve of the Games.

From The Wall Street Journal

When D’Anton Lynn abruptly left for Penn State on the eve of USC’s bowl game, the hope within the program had been to keep what remained of his defensive staff intact.

From Los Angeles Times

Two more have followed this season, as well as slopestyle gold and big air silver at the invitation-only X Games on the eve of the Olympics.

From BBC

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged Saturday to make Japan "more prosperous and safer", including through tougher immigration screening, in a final appeal to voters on the eve of snap elections.

From Barron's

MILAN—When authorities from the World Anti-Doping Agency delivered their pre-Games briefing here on the eve of the Winter Olympics, they fielded questions about the most urgent issues in global sports.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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