midnight

American  

[mid-nahyt] / ˈmɪdˌnaɪt /

noun

1. the middle of the night; twelve o'clock at night.

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adjective

1. of or relating to midnight.

2. resembling midnight, as in darkness.

idioms

1. burn the midnight oil, to study or work far into the night.

   After months of burning the midnight oil, he really needed a vacation.

midnight British  

/ ˈmɪdˌnaɪt /

noun

1. 1. the middle of the night; 12 o'clock at night

   2. ( as modifier )

      the midnight hour

2. to work or study late into the night

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Other Word Forms

• midnightly adjective
• postmidnight adjective
• premidnight noun

Etymology

Origin of midnight

before 900; Middle English; Old English midniht. See mid-, night

Example Sentences

"I was up until midnight," says the lawyer, who turns to baking as a release from his day job.

From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026

Or head to New York’s Times Square to watch a bonus midnight ball drop on July 3.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

From the expansive photo archives of his living room to a midnight shoot in the industrial heart of Chinatown, Reynaldo Rivera reveals the ghosts of Old Hollywood and the messy humanity captured in his lens.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

“I charge my car after midnight because the rate is lower because the consumption is lower.”

From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026

On the painting’s last night there—possibly the last night it will ever spend on Italian soil—the exhibition stayed open until midnight.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day