nightclub
Americannoun
-
nightclubs
plural
verb (used without object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of nightclub
Explanation
A nightclub is a bar or a disco where people can dance or be entertained late into the night. There are many nightclubs in New York City, but there are no nightclubs at all in most tiny Vermont villages. Visitors to a nightclub can eat and drink; watch singers, dancers, or comedians perform; and usually also dance to live music or songs played by a DJ. You can also call a nightclub a "club" for short — the dance floor is what distinguishes it from a bar or a pub. The word nightclub sounds modern, but it dates from the late nineteenth century.
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:
The manager of the Montecristo nightclub where the group met the girl was sentenced to two months in jail.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
After a 2016 mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Parton called herself a “patron saint” of the gay community in an interview with Billboard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
There are early suggestions he was denied entry back into a nightclub, or he had a drink poured over him.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
“Gen X drinks more intentionally and more consistently over the course of a night,” said Zack Bush, co-founder of Mad Room Hospitality, which operates several venues including the storied Ball & Chain nightclub in Miami.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
The Athena Parthenos lay sideways along the tops of the columns like a nightclub singer sprawled across a piano.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Belafonte began singing at downtown nightclubs with a repertoire of Caribbean folk songs adopted from the Greenwich Village music scene.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Area’s success led to a big career in nightclubs, restaurants and hotels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Unpopulated nightclubs as empty as a cemetery at midnight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Thailand's lax approach to health and safety regulations -- particularly in its bars and nightclubs -- has long raised concerns.
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026
The Ophanim, with their many eyes and the thin outline of fire around them, were celestial beings who rarely bothered with such pedestrian things as nightclubs and concert halls.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
On Thursday, officials took down a pair of Acapulco video ads touting the faded resort’s reputation as a nightclubbing spot - despite the fact nightclubs are currently closed to enforce social distancing.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 7, 2020
Among the nightspots where now-infected people congregated, it skirted a national coronavirus ban on nightclubbing by converting itself into a late-night watering hole, blocking off its dance floor with tables and bar stools.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 29, 2020
That matters when you’re selling $25,000 custom suits to heads of state or $120,000 crocodile shirts for nightclubbing industrialists.
From New York Times ● Aug. 10, 2017
I’m sure that in his nightclubbing life in New York he was delighted to rub shoulders with prominent black athletes and so forth.
From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2016
Jack Ravenhurst went into her own room after flashing me a rather hurt smile that was supposed to indicate her disappointment in not being allowed to go nightclubbing.
From A Spaceship Named McGuire by Randall Garrett
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.
