lights out
Americannoun
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Chiefly Military. a signal, usually by drum or bugle, that all or certain camp or barracks lights are to be extinguished for the night.
noun
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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
Etymology
Origin of lights out
First recorded in 1865–70
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.
"It means we can potentially design drugs that target the parasite's ARK1 specifically, turning the lights out on malaria without harming the patient."
From Science Daily • Mar. 5, 2026
Since then those stocks have been lights out, up 76% in 2023, 47.5% in 2024, and 19.3% last year, beating the market every year, according to FactSet.
From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026
The strategy shot the lights out when the housing and dotcom bubbles burst.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026
It could be a long, slow descent with the lights out on an RAF jet, or a rapid, corkscrew down in a C-130 transport plane.
From BBC • Jan. 23, 2026
He turned the lights out, and lay on the bed, and thought of Laura as she was before he went to prison.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
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.
