midnight sun

American

[mid-nahyt suhn] / ˈmɪdˌnaɪt ˈsʌn /

noun

the sun visible at midnight in Arctic and Antarctic regions during their summer months.

midnight sun British

noun

the sun visible at midnight during local summer inside the Arctic and Antarctic circles

"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

Etymology

Origin of midnight sun

First recorded in 1855–60

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.

Around this time, areas towards the North Pole experience "midnight sun".

From BBC • Jun. 19, 2024

I’m here in early April but the season runs until June, when there’s skiing in the midnight sun.

From The Guardian • Jan. 11, 2019

First, it has to be the dead of winter, long after the midnight sun sets for the season.

From National Geographic • Jun. 27, 2018

They have adapted to the darkness and cold of wintertime that dips to 60 below zero and then to the explosion of growth and pollination under summer’s midnight sun.

From New York Times • Oct. 7, 2016

I have seen the midnight sun some dozen times, and I call it an infernal nuisance.’

From Three in Norway by Two of Them by Clutterbuck, Walter J.

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