weekend
Americannoun
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the end of a week, especially the period of time between Friday evening and Monday morning.
We spent the weekend at Virginia Beach.
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this period as extended by one or more holidays, days off, or the like, that immediately precede or follow.
We're getting a three-day weekend at Christmas.
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any two-day period taken or given regularly as a weekly rest period from one's work.
I have to work at the hospital on Saturdays and Sundays, so I take my weekends on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
adjective
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Usage
What does weekend mean? The weekend is most commonly considered the period between Friday evening and the end of Sunday. More strictly speaking, the weekend is thought to consist of Saturday and Sunday (often regardless of whether the calendar week is considered to begin on Sunday or Monday). In practical terms, the weekend is typically considered to be the period between the end of the workweek (or school week) and the beginning of a new one—which is why most people consider their weekend to start on Friday night, after work or school. Of course, not everyone works a Monday-to-Friday schedule. A person who normally works on the weekend (on Saturday and Sunday) will probably consider any two-day stretch that they don’t have to work as their weekend. Any additional days off on either side of a weekend are often considered part of the weekend. For example, a day off for a holiday on Friday or Monday will result in a three-day weekend. Or you could take off on Monday and Tuesday for a long weekend. Weekend can also be used as an adjective in reference to something that happens on a weekend (as in a weekend session), lasts only for a weekend (as in a weekend trip), or only applies during a weekend (as in weekend hours). Much less commonly, weekend can be used as a verb meaning to spend a weekend somewhere, as in We like to weekend in the Hamptons. This sense can sound a bit fancy or even pretentious (the same thing can be said about summer when it’s used as a verb). The word weekends can be used as an adverb meaning every weekend or on or during weekends, as in I work weekends, so I always miss my son’s Saturday games. Example: I spent the weekend at the beach, but now I have to go back to work.
Etymology
Origin of weekend
Explanation
For most of us, the weekend is Saturday and Sunday — the days you don't have to go to school or work. If you've got big weekend plans, time may seem to move extra slowly on Friday. We often take weekends for granted, looking forward to a nice, two-day rest from our weekday responsibilities, but the concept of a weekend is a relatively recent one. After the Industrial Revolution, workers often found themselves laboring six or even seven days a week. You can thank 20th-century labor unions for the modern weekend we know today — it was their activism that eventually standardized the five-day workweek.
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.
Long Island Rail Road employees, meanwhile, went on strike for the first time in three decades over the weekend, halting the country’s busiest commuter railroad.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026
Nasa's satellite-based wildfire monitoring platform shows the fire has moved north-east over the weekend and now appears to be spreading inland.
From BBC • May 19, 2026
And it’s all happening as the summer travel season starts this Memorial Day weekend.
From MarketWatch • May 19, 2026
Tesla raised prices External link for some of its cars over the weekend.
From Barron's • May 19, 2026
This past weekend, it rained Saturday, so I didn’t get to plant my trees until Sunday.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
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.
