night and day

Idioms

Also day and night. Continually, without stopping. This phrase is used either literally, as in The alarm is on night and day, or hyperbolically, as in We were working day and night on these drawings. Shakespeare put it by night and day in The Comedy of Errors (4:2): “Time comes stealing on by night and day.”

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.

The difference in snow levels is night and day, with last year’s white peaks replaced by browns and greens.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

A 30-year-old Chinese seafarer on a vessel waiting to sail into the Persian Gulf describes, night and day, seeing missiles and drones flying overhead.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

The ice lid contracts and expands with temperature fluctuations between night and day, opening cracks that fill with shards of newly frozen lake water.

From Barron's • Feb. 15, 2026

“Anybody who has flown on a Starlink-equipped aircraft will say it was night and day between anything they experienced in the past,” Quilty said.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 11, 2026

The answer was obvious, as clear as night and day, black and white in Odessa, Texas, and he responded without the slightest hesitation.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

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