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bedtime story

American  

noun

bedtime stories plural
  1. a story told to a child at bedtime.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of bedtime story

First recorded in 1885–90

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:

Princess Catherine was the first royal to tell a bedtime story on the channel, reading The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark to mark Children's Mental Health Week in 2022.

From BBC Dec. 4, 2025

A spokesperson for Garbarino did not confirm the bedtime story in a statement, offering that he “briefly stepped out and inadvertently missed the vote.”

From Salon May 22, 2025

“Dog Man” feels like a bedtime story made up by a dad, then rendered in a sweetly kiddie aesthetic.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 31, 2025

There is a teddy with the school's crest on it, a bedtime story and a school uniform.

From BBC Jan. 28, 2025

She wrote her letters in the evening, after she had wrestled the horrible Babushkawoos into their nightclothes and read them a bedtime story.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

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