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lights out

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noun
Chiefly Military. a signal, usually by drum or bugle, that all or certain camp or barracks lights are to be extinguished for the night.
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Origin of lights out

First recorded in 1865–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lights out in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for lights out

lights out

noun
the time when those resident at an institution, such as soldiers in barracks or children at a boarding school, are expected to retire to bed
a fanfare or other signal indicating or signifying this
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
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