New Year's Eve

American

noun

the night of December 31, often celebrated with merrymaking to usher in the new year at midnight.

New Year's Eve British

noun

the evening of Dec 31, often celebrated with parties See also Hogmanay

"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 New Year's Eve

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

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:

New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve of 2019 Sandra McCartney was clinically dead for 10 minutes.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

We learned that Darwin celebrated New Year’s Eve 1836 with a snowball fight in Cambridge.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

She and Undergaro, who began dating in 1998, tied the knot during a live New Year’s Eve television broadcast in 2017 before celebrating with a second wedding in Greece the following year.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

Before Shane graduated high school, the last time Chevy Metal played a hometown show was at the Viper Room on New Year’s Eve.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

There was New Year’s Eve, then there was nothing.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

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