- present participle of even.
evening
Americannoun
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evenings
plural
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the latter part of the day and early part of the night.
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the period from sunset to bedtime.
He spent the evenings reading.
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Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. the time between noon and sunset, including the afternoon and twilight.
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any concluding or declining period.
the evening of life.
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an evening's reception or entertainment.
Their evenings at home were attended by the socially prominent.
adjective
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of or relating to evening.
The evening sky shone with stars.
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occurring or seen in the evening.
the evening mist.
noun
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the latter part of the day, esp from late afternoon until nightfall
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the latter or concluding period
the evening of one's life
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the early part of the night spent in a specified way
an evening at the theatre
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an entertainment, meeting, or reception held in the early part of the night
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dialect the period between noon and sunset
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(modifier) of, used, or occurring in the evening
the evening papers
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of evening
before 1000; Middle English; Old English ǣfnung, equivalent to ǣfn ( ian ) draw toward evening + -ung noun suffix
Explanation
The evening is the last part of the day before night falls, just when the sun is starting to go down. Most people eat dinner in the evening. The quiet, winding-down, ending part of a day is the evening — you might also call it "dusk" or "twilight." Some people define the evening as the time after dinner and before bedtime, and you can also use the word to talk figuratively about the final part of something else: "It was the evening of his life." The Old English root of evening is ǣfnung, "the time around sunset."
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.
See Examples For:
The US National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for the area through Saturday evening indicating weather conditions such as high winds and low humidity could risk high wildfire activity.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Plenty of people outside of the Dodgers’ downcast clubhouse Thursday evening saw the Brewers’ four-game sweep of the defending back-to-back champions as the fall of a dynasty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
But that evening, the Lindner Center of Hope posted on X to correct the record: Talarico had never been a patient.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
In a phone call that evening, Karpenko relayed his conditions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
So many now wanted to join us that we held a second service after evening roll call.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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He spent some evenings going over it, then consulted Japanese patent engineer Satoshi Tomokiyo, who maintains an online list of unsolved ciphers, to verify it.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Residents across the UK were left stunned as the sky was illuminated by the spectacular colours of the Northern Lights on Friday and Saturday evenings.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
On Friday evenings, hundreds of people gather at Ponysaurus Brewing Co., a trendy spot in Durham, North Carolina, to savor its craft beers and cocktails, hardly the place you’d expect a school to open.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
MS NOW correspondents will take questions in the evenings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
We did not so often spend the evenings up here listening to music now.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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